


Child of Darkness

by WildCard555



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Crack, Drama, F/M, Family, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Lemon, Love Triangles, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-18
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2017-12-20 13:47:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 60,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/887981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildCard555/pseuds/WildCard555
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makarov decides to hold a fundraiser to pay off Fairy Tails debts after coming in second at the Grand Magical Games. How does he do it? He auctions off the girls for a single date with who ever places the highest bid on the girl. A stranger out bids Natsu for a date with Lucy. Will Lucy fall for her date? What if the man turns out to be Zeref in disguise?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Auction?

**Child of Darkness.**   
  
**Chapter 1.**   
  
**The Auction.**

* * *

  
  
In the Fairy Tail guildhall.  
  
All the girl were backstage behind the curtain waiting for the auction to begin.  After coming in second place after the Grand Magical Games several months ago Makarov came up with an idea to help pay off the huge debt his guild had acquired after half of the guild(all the strongest members.) vanished for seven years.  He would auction off the women of Fairy Tail for a single date to whoever made the highest bid on that girl.  Makarov managed to convince the women to participate convincing them it would be an easy job, as they would only have to put up with the guy for a single night.  Most of them weren’t too happy about what he had them wear the night of the auction.  
  
“How did Master Makarov convince all of us to do this?”  Asked an irritated Lucy.  She was wearing a hot pink bunny costume.  It was essentially a strapless one piece swimsuit that showed off her cleavage, with pink stockings that came up all the way to her thighs, a little ball of fur for a tail above her Buttocks, and a pink set of bunny ears.  
  
“He told us it was to help pay off the debt the guild had acquired since we vanished for seven years.”  Sighed Erza.  She was pretty much wearing the same thing Lucy was except her colors were white, and didn’t have stockings on, instead of a bunny she was a cat with a long tail, she was wearing cat like cloves, and of course cat ears.  
  
“Juvia doesn’t mind as long as Gray-Sama wins Juvia.”  ‘Juvia will you marry me?’  Juvia imagined Gray proposing to her.  Juvia was wearing a Blue one-piece bathing suit(like the others showing off her cleavage.) with a scaled design, with lighter blue stockings, and a small thin all the way down her back.  
  
“You do know someone other than Gray could end up wining you right.”  Lucy pointed out.  
  
“What if love-rival is right, and Gray-Sama doesn’t win Juvia?”  The water mage began to cry.  
  
“It’s not so bad Juvia.” Levy tried to assure Juvia.  Unlike most of the other girls in Fairy Tail her body hadn’t quite developed like the others.  So instead of wearing a revealing animal costume like her Nakama she was wearing a Japanese schoolgirl uniform with a white top, and a sky blue skirt coming down halfway to her knees.  “Besides we’re only being auctioned off for one date.”  
  
“Easy for you to say.  You’re not showing off as much as the rest of us.  Flat chest.”  An irritated Cana pointed out.  She too was wearing a similar outfit as the other girls except hers was a dark brown that truly complemented her long brown hair, and was a puppy-dog designed costume.  
  
Levy placed her hands over her breasts, blushing.  “It’s not my fault you all developed faster than I did.”  
  
“It’s okay Levy-Chan.”  Lucy hugged her best friend.  “Some guys like smaller breasts.”  
  
“Really Lu-Chan.”  Looking at her friend half-teared eyes.  
  
“Yeah!”  Reassuring the smaller girl.  
  
“Yeah, pedophiles.”  Cana teased.  
  
Levy began to cry in Lucy’s arms  
  
“Cana that was just mean.”  Lucy said defending Levy.  
  
Cana walked over to Levy and wrapped her arms around her guild mate.  “Sorry Levy I’m just in a bad mood, and master wouldn’t let me drink before hand.”  She said apologetically.

* * *

  
  
  
The men of Fairy Tail were sitting at a table looking at the sea of men who had turned up to try to buy a date with their Nakama.  
  
“Wow, lot of people showed up tonight.”  Said Romeo  
  
“Messed up, people coming in thinking they can take our women.”  Said Gajeel.  
  
“Oi, I thought you told Levy you didn’t care, and wouldn’t be bidding tonight.”  Said Gray.  
  
Gajeel blushed a little.  “I lied, besides aren’t you going to bid on Juvia?”  
  
“Are you kidding me?  Miss out on a night were I don’t have to worry about her stalking me.”  Gray hugged himself.  “I swear she found out how to break into my house.  Can’t even take a shower in peace without worrying about her stalking me anymore.”  
  
“Maybe if you won her bid you could sit her down, and explain to her what boundaries are.”  Suggested Macao.  
  
“What?  Don’t listen to him Gray.  If a woman that attractive is that mad about you, you should give her a try.”  Argued Wakaba.  
  
“Real Men don’t get dates with women by buying them.  They ask them out themselves like a real Man would.”  Shouted Elfman.  
  
“Shut it, beside we all know you’re going to bid for Evergreen despite being a ‘Man’.”  Said Gray  
  
“That’s messed up.”  Said Gajeel.  
  
Gildarts was sitting at the table with the rest of the men laughing and shaking his head at the younger generation of Fairy Tail.  He looked around the table listening in on the conversation.  He then noticed that someone else wasn’t participating in the conversation.  “What about you Natsu?  Anyone of the girls you going to bid for?”  
  
Natsu was pulled out of his trial of thoughts.  “What?”  
  
“I said is there a certain girl you’re going to bid for tonight?”  
  
Natsu didn’t answer Gildarts question. Instead he just blushed.  
  
“Isn’t it obvious he’s going to bid on Bunny-girl.” Said Gajeel.  
  
“Oh yeah that’s right Lucy is up for grabs to.  Maybe I’ll bid for her.”  Joked Gray.  
  
Natsu slammed his fist on the table, nearly breaking it.  “Anyone of you places a bid on Lucy, and I’ll turn you to ash before gramps can ask for a higher number.”  Shooting death stares at everyone at the table.  
  
“Okay.”  The entire table answered in unison nervously.  
  
After saving Lucy from being sacrificed to that mysterious gate right after the games had ended he finally realized just how much Lucy meant to him.  He was so close to losing her he asked himself what he would have done if he had arrived one second later.  The answer he never would have seen this precious Nakama again.    
  
Sure he’d saved Lucy countless times, but never before had he been that close to losing her.  Those thought’s had haunted his dreams ever since they had returned to Magnolia.  Once he heard of Makarov’s plans he did everything he could to get Lucy out of it, but he old man told him if he didn’t want Lucy to go out with someone else that he just had to make sure he won the date with her.  
  
That’s when the Fire Dragon Slayer came up with a new plan.  He would win a date with Lucy in the Auction.  During that date he would tell Lucy how much she meant to him, and hope that she shares those feelings towards him.  That was his plan, and if he pulled it off Lucy would be his for the rest of his life.  
  
“Gentlemen may I have your attention please.  The first Fairy Tail Date Night Auction will now begin.”  Said Makarov into a microphone.  All the men occupying the guild got out of their seats to get closer to the stage.  “First up Fairy Tails resident Card-Mage Cana Alberona.”  
  
“Why my…Mmmmm Mmmmm.”  Gildarts tried to complain about his daughter being first. Until Laxus covered his mouth, and placed him in a hammer-lock(One arm forced behind your back while being forced up the back putting a lot of pressure on the shoulder.).  
  
“I think it would be best if you didn’t watch this part.”  Said Laxus dragging his fellow S-Class wizard out of the guild.  “Remember Bickslow to win Cana’s bid for me.”  Both mages exited the guild as the rest of the men watched Cana’s father being dragged off.  
  
“Laxus you bastard.”  They heard Gildarts yell, but neither man would return until after Cana had been won.

* * *

  
  
  
Back behind the curtain.  
  
Cana let go of Levy as she heard her name being called.  “I’ll make up for that comment later Levy.”  She said as she walked out onto the stage.  
  
“Let’s start the bid out at 30,000 Jewels.”  All the girls heard Makarov saying.  
  
“90,000 Jewels.”  Shouted Bickslow.  
  
“I have 90,000 Jewels.  Can I get 95,000 Jewels(Bids are in increments of 5,000 jewels so the next bid has to be at a minimum of 5,000 jewels higher than the previous high bid.)?”  There was silence and curses coming from rest of the crowd.  Cana is a gorgeous woman, but nobody was willing to try to out bid someone who started out that high on the first bid.  “90,000 Jewels going once, 90,000 Jewels going twice, sold to Bickslow for 90,000 Jewels.”  
  
Cana came back behind the curtain with a mixture of horror, and disbelief etched on her face.  “I have to go on a date with Bickslow.”  She mumbled out loud walking to the corner where Mira soon handed her, her barrel of alcohol.  
  
“Wow, Karma is a bitch.”  Laughed Levy.  She walked over toward Cana who she patted on the back.  “I think I’ll call us even.”  
  
“Next up is our Script-Mage Levy McGarden.”  Announced Makarov.  
  
“Guess it’s my turn.”  Levy continued to smile as she walked out on stage.

* * *

  
  
  
On the auction floor.  
  
“You’re up.”  Said Gray as he elbowed Gajeel in side.  
  
“Let’s start the bid out at…” Makarov began.  
  
“30,000 Jewels.”  Said Gajeel confidant that his bid would win.  Unlike the rest of the women in the guild Levy wasn’t as developed as the rest of the women being auctioned off, so Gajeel was confident he would win Levy easily.    
  
“35,000 Jewels.”  Someone in the guild shouted.    
  
“40,000 Jewels.”  (If I just give a number assume it’s just a random guy.)  
  
Gajeel quickly pulled out his wallet and counted 50,000 Jewels.  “50,000 Jewels.”  He shouted nervously.  
  
“65,000 Jewels”  
  
Gajeel looked desperately at his friends (you have to pay cash as soon as your bid is declared a winner in order to win the date, otherwise it restarts at the previous high.).  They all shook their heads telling him no as they all had plans to bid on another girl later that night so they couldn’t risk lending Gajeel any money in fear of not having enough when their girl would come up later.  
  
“65,000 Jewels going once, 65,000 Jewels going twice, sold to the gentleman in the brown tee shirt.”  Declared Makarov.  
  
“GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!”  Gajeel began cursing, and just like Gildarts earlier had to be dragged out the building.

* * *

  
  
  
Back behind the curtain.  
  
Levy walked back behind the curtain.  
  
Cana who was already buzzed walked up to the petit girl.  “Ha, I sold for 25,000 more than you.”  Said Cana declaring the start of the competition to see who sold for the highest.  
  
“At least I don’t have to go out on a date with Bickslow.”  Said the smaller girl to the drunk.  
  
Cana went back to the corner to drink some more after hearing Levy’s comeback.  
  
“Next up is our local celebrity, and frequent cover girl of Sorcerer Magazine Mirajane Strauss.”  Said Makarov.

* * *

  
  
After forty minutes of bidding all but two girls had yet to be auctioned off.  Lucy Heartfilia, and Juvia Lockser.  The rest of the girls went for the following(Bisca, and Wendy are not participating as Bisca is married, and Wendy is too young.)    
  
Cana- 90,000  
  
Levy- 65,00  
  
Mirajane- 180,000  
  
Lisanna- 85,000  
  
Evergreen- 90,000  
  
Laki- 60,000  
  
Kinana- 85,000  
  
Erza- 140,000

* * *

  
  
Erza returned behind the curtain looking pissed.  “Damn it I’m only in second place.”  She walked over towards the wall and punched it.  “You win this round Mira.”  
  
“You know this isn’t a competition right, Erza?”  Mira sweat dropped.    
  
“Don’t forget Mira that Erza takes everything competitively.”  Said Lucy.  
  
“Next up is the Water-Woman Juvia Lockser.”  Announced Makarov.  
  
“I’m coming Gray-Sama.”  Said Juvia nearly running to the stage.  
  
“I told you someone other than Gray could win you right.”  Lucy tried to tell her, but knew her words fell on death ears.  
  
Juvia walked out on the stage positioning herself in the center before she stated to change poses for the crowd.  
  
“Let’s start the biding off at 40,000 Jewels.”  Said Makarov.  
  
Juvia began looking around the crowd trying to eye Gray, while changing poses every now and then.  
  
“40,000 Jewels.”  
  
“45,000 Jewels.”  
  
Knowing neither voice belonged to Gray Juvia continued to search the crowd.  
  
“50,000 Jewels.”  
  
She finally spotted him.  
  
“60,000 Jewels.”  
  
“65,000 Jewels.”  
  
While continuing to change poses for the crowd Juvia noticed something.  Despite having made eye contact with Gray the man showed no interest in placing a bid.  Looking into his eyes she looked at him as if asking why.  
  
Macao placed a hand on Gray’s shoulder.  “You might want to place a bid before she begins to cry.”  
  
“70,000 Jewels.”  
  
“I don’t even like her in that way.”  Said Gray defensively.  
  
Wakaba placed his hand on Gray’s other shoulder.  “Sometimes you just have to take a chance.”  
  
“85,000 Jewels.”  
  
“But I…” Gray tried to say.  
  
“Think of it this way.  Best case scenario you two hit it off, and become a happy couple.”  Said Wakaba.  
  
“Or worst case scenario you set her down and tell her you don’t share those same feelings.”  Said Macao.  
  
“85,000 Jewels going once.” Said Makarov  
  
Gray looked into Juvia’s pleading eyes begging him to place a bid.  
  
“85,000 Jewels going twice.”  
  
‘ _In one case I tell her I don’t like her, and break her heart.  Or we were meant for each other, and I’ve just had my head up my ass for a year.  Either way it’s a win-win for me.’_ “100,000 Jewels.”  Shouted Gray.  
  
“You had that kind of Jewels, and you wouldn’t lend me any?”  Asked a furious Gajeel who was let back in after cooling off for thirty minutes.  
  
“Not my fault you didn’t save up enough jewels.”  Gajeel was soon restrained after attempting to strike Gray.  
  
“100,000 Jewels going once, 100,000 Jewels going twice, and sold to Gray Fullbuster.”  Announced Makarov.  
  
“Gray-Sama.”  Juvia began to float over towards Gray until Makarov grabbed a hold of her, and instructed her to go behind the curtain until the auction was completely over.

* * *

  
  
Back behind the curtain.  
  
“Gray-Sama won a date with Juvia.”  The Water-Mage said joyfully walking towards the other girls.  
  
“Congratulations Juvia.”  Said Lucy happy for her friend.  
  
“That’s right love-rival.  Gray-Sama wanted Juvia and not Lucy.”  Juvia said getting in Lucy’s face.  
  
“For the last time Juvia we’re not love-rivals.”  Lucy tried to explain, but knew Juvia wasn’t listening to her.  
  
“3:1 odds says Gray ends up breaking her heart.”  Said a still buzzed Cana starting to take bets.  
  
“Well looks like you’re the last one to go Lucy.”  Smiled Mira.  
  
“Yeah.  Didn’t think I’d be the last to go.”  Lucy said nervously.  “It should have been you to go out last Mira.”  
  
“Don’t worry about it too much Lucy.  Besides it’s not like this is a competition or anything.”  
  
“Easy for you to say.”  Grumbled Erza.  “After all you’re in first place.”  
  
“Erza seriously this is not a…” Lucy started  
  
“Our final bid of the auction will be Fairy Tail’s Celestial-Mage Lucy…” Makarov began to announce.  
  
Lucy ran out to the stage as soon as Makarov began to say her name.  “Don’t say my last name.”  Shouted the blonde mage.  
  
"Ha, Bunny-girl is dressed in a bunny costume.”  Laughed Gajeel.  “If I only knew the meaning of irony.”  
  
Unfortunately Gajeel was standing right next to Natsu who hit the Iron Dragon Slayer square on the jaw knocking him down hard on he ground.  
  
“What the Fuck was that for Salamander?”  Shouted Gajeel preparing to strike back.  But before he could he found himself in Makarov’s tight grip.  
  
“That’s three times now Gajeel.  I’m afraid I’m going to have to kick you out of the building for the rest of the night.”  Said the enlarged elder mage walking the Iron-Mage out of the building.  After escorting the rowdy mage out of the building he returned to the stage.  “Sorry about that gentlemen.  Now as I was saying let’s start the final bid at…”  
  
“100,000 Jewels.”  Shouted Natsu.  
  
With such a high starting nearly everyone had a comment.  The men of Fairy Tail realized Natsu wasn’t kidding about wanting Lucy.  The other men who had come over for the auction were cursing about not even getting a chance to win a date the blonde hotty.   The women of Fairy Tail was a mixed bag of jealousy that Lucy got such a high initial bid, happy that Natsu was finally making a move, and Erza patting Mira on the back for taking first place.  Makarov had a big smile on his face for getting more of the debt paid off.    
  
As for the girl on stage, Lucy was stunned that her best friend had made such a high bid on her right off the bat.  So stunned that she was still mid-way through going into her first pose.  ‘ _Holly Shit did Natsu just bid 100,000 Jewels on me?  Why would he do that?’_ Thought the now confused stellar mage.  
  
‘ _That’s definitely her.  Lucy Heartfilia.’_ Thought a black-haired stranger in the crowd.  
  
After several seconds of getting over the shock of such a high starting bid the master finally remembered he had a job to do.  “I have 100,000 Jewels.  Can I get 105,000 Jewels?”  Just a bunch of cursing from the crowd.  “100,000 Jewels going once, 100,000 Jewels going twice, So…”  
  
“120,000 Jewels”  
  
Natsu looked over to where he had heard the bid come from.  He saw a black-haired man with dark brown eyes.  The man was wearing black dress pants, and a black dress shirt.  “140,000 Jewels.” Said Natsu.  
  
Peeking her head out the Curtain.  “Damn it Lucy is now tied with me for second.” Said Erza.  
  
“This is not a competition Erza.”  Said Mira also peeking her head out the curtain, as well as all the other girls.  
  
“150,000 Jewels.” Said the Black-haired man.  
  
Erza dropped her head in disappointment.  “Now I’m in third.”  
  
Natsu came in with a lot of cash in his pocket, and was willing to spend it, but he didn’t expect to have to spend it all.  _‘At this rate it’s going to be me taking Lucy for a walk on the beach before telling her my feelings.’_   “180,000 Jewels.”  Hoping that the 30,000 Jewel hike would scare off his competitor.  
  
“185,000 Jewels.” The man was continuing to battle Natsu.  
  
“Well at least Mira didn’t take first.”  Said Erza.  
  
“No matter how you look at it though you’re still in third.”  Mira pointed out  
  
“I thought you said this isn’t a competition Mira-chan?”  Asked Levy.  
  
“If Erza and I are involved it will always be a competition between us.”  Mira let out a dark aura.  
  
 _“200,000 Jewels.”_ Said Natsu knowing that was all he had left.  _‘Yup_ it’s going to be a walk on the beach.’  
  
“220,000 Jewels.”  The man betting Natsu’s highest possible bid.  
  
‘ _Wholly Shit.  Are these two expecting to sleep with me?  They were told this was just for one date right?’_   Thought Lucy nervously and almost embarrassed that the two men were willing to pay so much for her.  
  
“220,000 Jewels going once.”  Said Makarov.  
  
Natsu looked at his Nakama giving them a look begging them for some Jewels.  Unfortunately each of them had already spent their jewels on a previous bid, or they weren’t to keen on lending Natsu the money.  
  
“220,000 Jewels going twice.”  
  
Natsu heard someone tapping on the guild’s window from the outside.  He saw that it was Gajeel who was waving at Natsu to come closer.  He ran as fast as he could to the glass hoping that Gajeel would lend him the money.  When he got up to the glass Gajeel stopped his waving motion, and proceeded to flip his fellow Dragon Slayer off with a giant smirk on his face.  Before he could think of something else to tip the scale back into his favor he heard the words he was dreading.  
  
“Sold to the Gentlemen in the black dress clothes.”  Said Makarov ending the final bid.  
  
 **End Chapter 1.**  
  
 **Next Chapter.**

**When should I pick you up?**

* * *

 

Hope you all enjoyed.

Please continue to support **Child of Darkness** and my other ongoing story **Dragon's Tear**.

WildCard555 Out.

* * *

 


	2. When Should I Pick You Up?

‘ _Sold to the gentleman in the black dress clothes.’_ Makarov’s words kept repeating in Natsu’s head over and over again.  _‘I lost.  I lost.  Are you kidding me?  I just lost.’_   Thought Natsu as he began pulling at his pink hair.  Normally whenever he lost it was in a fight in which most of the time he could eventually get a rematch against the person who beat him.  This time however there were no rematches.  Lucy would have to go on a date with the man who just happened to have more money than him.  His plan to confess to her was thrown out the window.  A storm of emotions was flooding his mind anger, jealousy, sadness, regret and more that he didn’t care to name off.  
  
The Dragon Slayer’s sensitive ears heard a squeaking noise coming from behind him.  He turned around to see what was causing the noise.  The window was fogged over with a huge message written from the other side.  ‘FUCK YOU!’  Gajeel popped his head up from behind another window and started to laugh at Natsu for failing to win his girl like he did earlier.  
  
As much as Gajeel just pissed him off, there was another person currently inside the guild who he was even more pissed off at.  He turned his head towards the direction of the man who had out bided him.  He stated to walk towards the man.    
  
Most of the crowd was still in some shock over the fact he had just spent nearly a quarter of a million jewels for a single date with the blonde bombshell who was stunned after watching her best friend, and a complete stranger placing such high bids on her.  The only people who had started to move besides Natsu were the Fairy Tail girls who had been auctioned off trying to break Lucy out of her trance.  
  
Wakaba, Macao, and Gildarts watched as Natsu got closer to the man who just out-bided him.  “Should we stop him before he does any damage?”  Asked Wakaba.  
  
“Yeah we better before he makes the rest of Fairy Tail look bad.”  Sighed Macao as he stated to walk towards the scene that was about to happen.  
  
Gildarts stopped both mages from going any further.  “Let’s wait to see what happens.  After all this could be entertaining.”  ‘ _How strong are you’re feeling for Lucy, Natsu?’_  
  
Natsu got behind the man, and tapped him on the shoulder.  He waited until the black-haired man turned around.  
  
Once he turned around he saw anger in pink-haired man’s eyes.  “Oh, you’re the guy who gave me a run for my money.”  He let out a small chuckle.  “You literally gave me a run for my money.”  He stretched his hand out silently asking for the pink-haired man’s name.  
  
“The names Natsu Dragneel.”  He ignored the man’s hand.  “Who are you, and what do you think you just did."  
  
“The names Ceadra Talons(Zeref’s allies in this story.).”  He gave Natsu a confused look.  “This is an auction isn’t it?  So I believe I just beat you for a date with the lovely blonde on stage.”  
  
“Her name is Lucy.”  Natsu said angrily “And why did you wait to bid on Lucy?”  
  
“What can I say I have a thing for blondes.”  
  
“Then why wait till the last second before placing a bid.”  Natsu got in Ceadra’s face.  
  
“Thought I’d make things a little move exciting.  After all it was the main-event."  
  
“Why did you go for my Lucy.”  
  
He looked at Natsu puzzled for a second.  “Sorry I didn’t know she was your girlfriend.  I was just assuming all the girls were single.”  Raising up his hands defensively.   
  
“She’s not my girlfriend.”  Natsu let out a small blush.   “At least not yet anyway.”  
  
‘ _Amusing it appears Natsu has feeling for Ms. Heartfilia.  That should make things more entertaining.  Let’s see who she ends up falling for, Eh Natsu.’_ “I see then.”  Lowering his hands back down to his sides.  “You’re just jealous that someone else is going to get to make the first move on Lucy other than yourself.” Giving the other man a cocky grin.  “Am I right?”    
  
 “Why you!”  Natsu clenched his fist, as he prepared to strike the man.  “I’m gonna kick you’re a…” Before he could strike his new found enemy he felt a something hard hit him on the head, and soon after lost consciousness.  He did not however hit the ground as the man who had knocked him out caught him before he even began to fall down.  
  
Gildarts threw Natsu’s limp body other his shoulder as if the younger mage weighed nothing.  “I think I let that go far enough.”  He said as he started to walk towards the infirmary.  “Sorry about Natsu he can get hot-headed real easily.”  
  
“Sorry about Natsu’s behavior.  I would have hoped he could handle this kind of loss without getting upset.”  Said Makarov who just walked up toward the black-haired man.  ‘ _Natsu is going to be pissed at me after I convincing him to just make sure he won the date with Lucy.’_ He sweat dropped.  
  
“Apology accepted.”  The man nodded his head at Makarov.  
  
“Please don’t take this as an insult.”  Began Makarov.  “But do you really have that kind of cash on you young man?”  
  
The black-haired man pulled out his wallet from his front pocket.  “Of course I do elder.”  He then started to count out the money in his wallet before pulling it out to give to the old man.  “What kind of a person would place a bid without the proper amount of cash on them?”  He began to walk to the stage.  “Now if you don’t mind me I’d like to go meet my future date.”

* * *

 

**On the stage.**  
  
The women of Fairy Tail missed the scene between Natsu, and Ceadra(Zeref), as they were finally able to pull Lucy out of her trance.  “Lucy, Lucy are you alright?”  Asked Levy.  
  
“Did Natsu just bid 200,000 Jewels on me?”  Asked a very confused blonde.  
  
“Yeah he did Lu-Chan.”  
  
“To bad for him though the other guy had 20,000 more jewels than him.”  Said Mira.  ‘ _Now I have to wait longer to see Natsu and Lucy as a couple.’_ Inner Mira cried a little bit, as she believes the two would be perfect for each other.  
  
“What?  A complete stranger just bid on me for 220,000 Jewels?”  Said Lucy flabbergasted.  
  
“Don’t sound disappointed Lucy.”  Grumbled Erza.  “After all you just won.”  
  
“Love-Rival.  Juvia congratulates you on winning competition, but now Juvia must go find out what Gray-Sama plans on doing on his date with Juvia.”  Said Juvia as she went to go search for Gray.  She would eventually find Gray in the bathroom asking himself what he was going to do.  After hearing that Juvia got even more excited for her eventual date with Gray after hearing he couldn’t decide what to do for the date.  “Gray-Sama must really like Juvia.  Gray-Sama can’t decide where to take Juvia.”   
  
Every girl left on stage (Erza, Levy, Lisanna, Mira, Cana, and Lucy) all had the same thought in their heads after Juvia exited the stage.  ‘ _Gray please don’t break Juvia’s heart.’_ Or ‘ _be gently with her_.’  
  
“Erza for the last time this wasn’t a competition.”  Said Levy.  
  
“Easy for you to say you never had a chance of winning it.”  Erza again grumbled.  
  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  Asked an angry Levy.  
  
A drunken Cana snuck up behind Levy and groped her breasts.  “Flat-Chest.”  Giggled the drunken mage.  
  
Levy quickly broke Cana’s hold on her as she hugged her chest.  “Enjoy your date with Bickslow.”  Said the angry Script-Mage.  
  
Cana somehow instantly found herself in a barstool at the counter with a fresh barrel of beer in hand.  “Why me?”  
  
“Why do all you girls think I’m ugly?”  Asked a depressed Bickslow who was drinking right next to Cana.   
  
“We don’t think you’re ugly, we think you’re creepy.”  Answered the Card-Mage bluntly.  The two mages then continued to drink in silence.  
  
“You know those two might make a cute couple if Cana would give Bickslow a chance.”  Said Mira to herself.  The Barmaid then tried to imagine what their kids would look like, but had troubles doing so as Bickslow’s face was always under a mask.  “Let’s just hope the babies end up looking like the mother.”  
  
“What are you talking about Mira-Nee?”  Lisanna asked her elder sister.  
  
“I’ve got a new couple to make.”  Mira said as she started to walk towards the two drinking mages.  
  
Before she could get to far though Lisanna grabbed a hold of her sister’s arm.  “Mira-Nee we should probably go talk with our dates before you try to make a new couple.  More specifically I need to go talk to Laxus.”  Laxus won her bid.  But unknown to her he did it for Bickslow like he did for Cana sense Laxus knew Gildarts would respond like he did, and wouldn’t be able to be in the room to bid for Cana.(In other words Bickslow wants Lisanna, and Laxus wants Cana so each man won the bid for his fellow team member’s girl, and plan on switching so they can get the girl they actually wanted.)  
  
The inner Mira screamed ‘ _NO, I HAVE WORK TO DO HERE.’_ But out loud she agreed with her little sister.  “You’re right, beside I have plenty of time to hook those two up.  After all I don’t want to disappoint the man who spent 180,000 Jewels for a date me.”  She shot Erza a dirty look.    
  
Erza quickly shot Mira a dirty look back.  
  
Before she went to go search for her future date she looked at Lucy.  ‘ _After your date I’m going to make you and Natsu a couple.’_ Inner squeal.  ‘ _Yay I now have two couples to make.  No wait, three couples.  Laxus and Lisanna could be a cute couple as well.’_ Walking down the stage with Lisanna right behind her.  
  
“Guess I’d better go find out who I have to go out with.”  Said Erza as she began to walk off stage.  
  
“You didn’t see who won?”  Asked Levy.  
  
“I was too focused on using my sex-appeal to win the contest to see who was bidding.”  Erza answered walking into the crowd to find her future date(The poor bastard).  
  
After watching nearly all the girls walk of the stage Lucy finally got back to her usual self as the shock had finally faded.  She then saw that Levy was the only with her on the stage.  “Levy-chan why do you think Natsu was willing to spend so much money on me.”  ‘ _Better yet when did he learn how to save that kind of cash?’_  
  
“I don’t know Lu-chan.  All I know is that he came in more prepared than Gajeel.  That cheap bastard.”  She mumbled the last part.  
  
Lucy heard what Levy said.  “Looks like someone has a crush on Gajeel.”  Lucy teased her best friend.  
  
“No I don’t.”  She blushed  
  
“Then why are you blushing?”  
  
Right when Levy had a comeback she saw the black-haired man who had won Lucy walking towards them.  “Sorry Lu-Chan, but it looks like your date wants to meet you.”  At that Levy skipped off the stage to look for her date.  
  
Lucy watched as the petit mage exited the stage, and saw her future date approaching her.  She never saw what he looked like until now because of how stunned she was at Natsu’s original bid.  The man had matted down spiky black hair.  He wore black dress pants.  A black dress-shirt with both sleeves rolled up, and was unbuttoned a third of the way down revealing a white shirt underneath.  His brown eyes were darker than her chocolate brown ones.  Lucy then noticed he was starting to unbutton the rest of his dress shirt.  
  
“Wh-What are you doing?”  Blushed Lucy watching the man take off his outer shirt.  
  
“It must be kind of embarrassing for you to be wearing that revealing costume.”  The man said offering her his shirt.  
  
Lucy quickly looked down seeing see was still in her hot pink bunny costume.  “How did I forget I was wearing this?”  She took the man’s shirt and quickly put in on, buttoning up the shirt until I covered the costume up.  
  
“From what I could tell you were shocked by that Natsu guys initial bid.”  
  
“That sound right.”  Admitting she already knew how she forgot.  
  
“Whoever convinced all you girls to were these costumes must be a real pervert.”  Shaking his head.  
  
On the floor Makarov sneezed  “Someone just spoke ill of me.”  
  
“You hit the nail on the head.” Said Lucy nodding her head.  
  
Makarov sneezed again.  “Two people just spoke ill of me.”  Looking around for the culprits.  
  
“I mean it’s not like we have to sleep with the guy who won anyway.  So why did we have to wear something so revealing?”  Lucy said temporarily forgetting the man who won her was right next to her.  
  
“We don’t?”  Asked the black-haired man looking a little disappointed.  
  
“Of course not?”  She answered with a mix of anger, and embarrassment despite her blushing.  
  
The man let out a chuckle.  “I was just joking.  I knew that already.”  Smiling at the girl.  
  
Lucy let out a blush of embarrassment.  ‘ _Nice job insulting the guy Lucy.’_ “Sorry I didn’t mean it that way.”  
  
“It’s alright.  If the roles were reversed I’d be the one blushing and embarrassed Lucy…Sorry I never caught your last name.”  He extended his right hand to the girl.  
  
“My name is Lucy, Lucy Ashley.  What’s your name?”  Asked Lucy extending her right hand to meet his.  
  
“My name is Ceadra, Ceadra Talons.”  He gently took hold of Lucy’s hand, and gave it a light kiss.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you Lucy Ashley.  So when should I pick you up?”  
  
“I don’t know I thought you would have had something in mind for the date before hand.”  Continuing to blush at the fact the guy was old school enough to kiss her hand.  It reminded her of when she lived with her father.  All the men her father introduced her to always did it.  She didn’t mind the act as she found it charming, she just didn’t like the fact her father always tried to use her as a bargaining chip to his fellow business men.  All of them were shot down despite knowing how angry her father would be at her later.  Still she found the act to be charming.  
  
Ceadra rubbed his temples thinking for a couple of seconds.  “How’s about we meet up at the train station at ten O’ clock tomorrow morning.”  
  
“Why tomorrow?”  Lucy had plans to go shopping.  “And why the train station?”  
  
“I’m only in town for a couple of days, and tomorrow is the only full day I’m guaranteed left here in Magnolia.  As for the train station I admit it sounds like a strange place t meet up, but its one of the few places I know how to get to from my hotel room here in Magnolia.”  He smiled innocently showing no signs of evil intentions.  
  
Lucy let out a sigh.  “Alright then I’ll meet you at the train station tomorrow at ten.”  Smiling back at Ceadra.  
  
“See you later then Lucy Ashley.”  Ceadra started to walk away.  
  
Lucy realized she was still wearing the man’s shirt.  “Ceadra hold up.  Let me change real quick so you can get your shirt back.”  She started to head towards the back.  
  
“Don’t worry about it.  I just get it back from you tomorrow.”  He gave the blonde a small wave.  “Think of it as a additional guaranty you’ll meet up with me tomorrow.”  At that he made his way off the stage, and out of the guild.  ‘ _Step one complete.’_  
  
“Looking forward to it, Ceadra Talons.”  Lucy blushed watching the man leave.  
  
 **End Chapter 2.**  
  
 **Next Chapter.**  
  
 **Before the Date?**  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had Lucy change her last name so her father's enemies/competitors wouldn't try to hunt her down to try to use her to take control of the company her family once owned regardless of who the current owner may be, or the intentions they might have for her. As you can tell I gave Lucy her Edolas counter part's last name.   
> Ceadra Talons will be Zeref's alias in this story for the obvious reasons he can't use his real name without raising huge alarms.


	3. Before the Date?

Even though the auction was over other half of the guests stayed to party with Fairy Tail. The next hour at the guild proceeded like it normally does with loads of eating, drinking, laughing, and sharing stories. Their former competition congratulated the men who had won a date. The women introduced themselves to the man who had won them to figure out when and where they would meet later for the date. After twenty minutes of drinking the casual Fairy Tail fights broke out which the guests found to be entertaining so long as they didn't get caught up in it. All around mostly everyone was having a good time.

Despite most people having a good time there were those who took the losses pretty hard, and others who would be facing consequences. After being aloud back into the guild Gajeel was quickly dragged away by the ear by Levy who would be giving him an ear full of how cheap a bastard he was. Bickslow ended up running for his life after Gildarts found out that he won the date with his only daughter, leaving it up to Laxus to explain to Cana and Lisanna the intentions the two had(Laxus wanted Cana. Bickslow wanted Lisanna, but the two had to win the other mans woman for his teammate). Gray had frozen himself shut in the basement as he was trying to figure out how he was going to handle his Juvia problem, and whether or not he would sit her down or give the girl a chance. Natsu was still out cold in the infirmary.

After the final guest had left the men of Fairy Tail began to take all the decorations down, while the women all gathered around the bar talking amongst each other.

"I get to go out with Laxus instead of Bickslow!" Cheered Cana nearly falling over from all the booze she had drunk.

"I might not even get my date with Bickslow because of your father." Said a worried Lisanna.

Cana gently patted the other girl's shoulder. "Don't worry my dad won't kill Bickslow. At least I hope he won't." She meant to whisper that last part, but ended up saying it out loud.

Before Lisanna could say another word all the girls attention was pulled else where. They watched as Levy stomped down the stairs and headed straight for the last empty barstool at the bar. Mira quickly gave her a beer. Levy downed half of her drink before setting it down.

"So how'd your talk with Gajeel go?" Asked Lucy.

"I yelled at him for being a cheap bastard, and told him he'd better pray my date doesn't sweep me off my feet in two days." The petit mage then finished the rest of her drink, quickly asking for another one. The rest of the girls sweat dropped as Levy finished her third beer in less than two minutes. "Why didn't my body develop like the rest of yours." She wailed.

"I think I'd better take you home." Said Mira as she began to guide the other girl who couldn't handle her alcohol home. ' _I'll give you some advice for Gajeel as well. Blue-haired babies with red eyes'_ Inner Mira was smiling at the thought _._

"That girl cannot handle her alcohol." Said Cana drinking from her barrel of booze. When she set it down she turned her attention to Lucy. "So what is you dates name?" Pinching at the arm of the shirt the man had lent her.

"His name is Ceadra Talons." Lucy answered who had been unaware that she was still wearing the man's shirt after he left an hour ago.

"What are the two of you going to do?" This time the question came from Lisanna.

"I don't know yet. All I know is that I'm meeting up with him at the train station at ten in the morning."

"Why the train station?"

"He told me it was one of the few places he knew how to get to from his hotel."

"But…" Cana began before she trailed off as Erza had suddenly appeared behind Lucy.

"Can we talk in private Lucy?" Asked Erza in super-serious mode.

"Sure." Said Lucy. Even without being in super-serious mode Lucy could never say no to Erza. The two walked off into the empty kitchen. "So what is it you want to talk to me about." She thought it was going to be a precaution coming from Erza. Instead she got pulled into a tight bear hug.

"It was Jellal in disguise who won my bid." Squealed Erza picking her friend up off the ground.

"Congratulations." Lucy barely got the word out as Erza squeezed the wind out of her.

Erza let go of her friend before she continued. "We're going to meet up in Hargeon next week."

"What…are… you…two…going…to…do?" Asked Lucy trying to catch her breath.

"I'm not sure yet, but I want to look my best. Can you please help me? It will take me four days to get to Hargeon." Erza said.

"My date it tomorrow so I can help you with your looks the next day." She felt Erza strong arms wrap around her again, but not nearly as tight as the first hug.

"Thank you Lucy." Letting go of the hug as she began to exit the kitchen. "By the way good luck on your date Lucy." She smiled at her friend.

Before she left Lucy asked her a question. "Erza do you know where Natsu is? I haven't seen him since he placed the first bid."

"I believe he is still in the infirmary."

"WHAT? What did he do this time?"

"Apparently after he lost to your date…What's his name by the way."

"Ceadra Talons."

"After Natsu lost to Ceadra he had a confrontation with him, and almost became physical. That is until Gildarts knocked him out. Gildarts must have hit him pretty hard if he's still out."

"I'd better go check on him." Said Lucy as she jogged out of the kitchen. _'Gildarts must have hit him pretty hard if he's still out._ ' Normally when Natsu challenged Gildarts and got knocked out he usually recovered quickly. Natsu had never been one to stay down for too long. Once inside the infirmary she saw the pink haired teen still unconscious lying down on the bed. "Natsu are you alright?" She shouted as she continued her jog to Natsu's side.

At the sound of Lucy's shout the dragon slayer woke up. "Lucy are you alright." Jumping out of the bed to see her jogging towards him.

Lucy wasn't expecting Natsu to jump of the bed so quickly so she wasn't able to stop herself from crashing into her best friend. Both mages fell to the floor.

"Are you alright Natsu?" Asked a dazed Lucy as the two accidentally head-butted each other on the way down. Her head was resting on Natsu's chest.

"I'll be fine once the stars stop spinning." Natsu answered just as dazed as Lucy was.

The two mages stayed where they were waiting for their heads to stopped spinning. Natsu was the first to recover.

He looked up to see that Lucy was on top of him wearing a black dress shirt. "Hey Lucy Where'd ya get that shirt from?" Natsu asked in a serious tone grabbing hold of it's collar.

"Ceadra lent it to me so I could cover up my costume." Lucy was still recovering.

"I could have lent you my vest." He said with a strong hint of jealousy in his voice.

"Your vest wouldn't have been able to cover up my costume as well." Still feeling the effect of the head-but.

Natsu felt stung by Lucy's comment. He began to sit up wrapping one arm around the girls head while using the other arm to push his body as well as Lucy's up. "You're not seriously going to go on a date with that guy are you?"

"I have to. Besides he doesn't seem like that bad of a guy." The girl unconsciously blushed recalling the conversation they had, and how he kissed her hand.

"Lucy.' He gently pushed her head off of his chest so he could look at her face. When he got the separation to look at her face he saw that her eyes were glazed over. "Are you alright?" Concerned for his Nakama.

"I'm alright Natsu."

He could tell she was lying. "Lucy you…"

"Why did you bid so high for me?" Cutting Natsu off. She leaned closer to his face wanting to get the answer from him.

Natsu felt his face heating up as Lucy got closer to him. "It's because I…" Natsu was having difficulty finishing what he wanted to say. For one confessing to someone in of itself is hard to do. Two he had a very attractive blonde sitting on his lap making it harder for him to think straight. Three her lips were only inches away from his, looking like they were begging to be kissed. Knowing he couldn't talk under these circumstances he decided he would show her instead of telling her as he bent his head down so there lips would meet. That was the plan until he heard another girl screech as the door slammed against the wall.

"I'm So Sorry." Shouted Wendy(wasn't auctioned off, but was still in the guild during the event). "I Didn't Mean To Interrupt Anything." She closed the door to give her teammates their privacy back.

Wendy's voice brought Lucy back into full consciousness. Only then did she realize the position she was in. She was on top of, and sitting on Natsu's lap. From how she was dressed it must have looked like she wasn't wearing any pants at the moment with only a black dress shirt on. Most importantly how dangerously close her lips where to Natsu's lips. "KYAAA!" She yelped pushing herself away from Natsu sliding down his lap feeling something hard underneath her. "KYAAA!" This time she stood up. "Wh-What Just Ha-Happened." Looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

Natsu still wasn't able to think straight because of his and Lucy's previous position. "Well you see… you and me…we…" Trying himself to think how everything just went down.

While Natsu was trying to answer her she saw the clock in the room. It read eleven O' clock. "Oh man look at the time. My date tomorrow is at ten tomorrow. I need to get home so I can get some sleep." She said frantically. "Sorry Natsu I've got to get home." She ran out he door to go home.

After sitting on the infirmary floor for ten minutes Natsu slowed his mind down after it had been racing since he decided to show Lucy instead of telling her why he was willing to spend so much money. "I bid so high for you because I love you Lucy. I don't want to even imagine you with any other guy." Answering her question knowing she couldn't hear it despite how bad he wanted to her to hear it. He looked at the clock, Eleven-twelve. "I'd better get to bed." Jumping out the infirmary window.

* * *

**The next day.**

Lucy woke up to the sound of her alarm clock, which read eight O' clock. She quickly turned it off. "Who sets up a date that starts at ten in the morning?" She yawned. She then looked at the calendar on her writing desk. "And on a Sunday as well."

She then felt something sift next to her. She looked to see what it was and saw a pink head of hair resting on her second pillow. This wasn't anything new to Lucy by now. After the Grand Magical Games and the horrors that followed the event had ended Natsu had been crashing at her place a lot more often than he used to. So much so that instead of violently kicking him out of her apartment she started to charge him rent for crashing at her place at least four nights out of the week.

The Celestial mage took a good look at his sleeping face. Instead of his trademark grin on his face he had a sad look on his face. It was a strange site as Natsu hardly ever had a sad look on his face. "Wonder what he's dreaming about?" This time speaking softer to not wake the sleeping dragon slayer.

Moving as quietly as she could Lucy grabbed the clothes she would be wearing for her date with Ceadra(Zeref) and a bath towel as she walked to the bathroom. After twenty minutes of her daily bathing rituals the blonde was standing in front of the mirror looking at her reflection. Her hair was still damp with her signature ponytail to the side of her head. Lucy was wearing a pink tank top with a white button up short-sleeve shirt. She wore a white skirt that came down just above her knees.

"It feels weird wearing an actual skirt coming down so low." Speaking to her reflection. "But if the guy is old school enough to kiss my hand a mini-skirt might be a little inappropriate for our date." She took one last look at the mirror happy with the way she looked before exiting the bathroom.

Natsu was still sound asleep on the bed.

"Lucky bastard. I'd love to still be asleep right now." Letting out a yawn. She took a quick look at the alarm clock on her desk reading eight, thirty-five. "Looks like I have enough time for a quick breakfast and write a letter to mama and papa." After a bowl of cereal Lucy wrote her deceased parents a letter.

_Dear Mama, and Papa,_

_How are things in Heaven today ? I hope everything is going well for you two._

_Guess what? I've got a date today. We didn't get to meet under 'normal' circumstance though, as he won a date with me though our masters auction idea. Don't get to mad at me Papa. I'm pretty sure you'd approve of him as he was gentlemanly and kissed my hand like all those men you tried to force on me._ (Natsu let out a loud snore.) _You'd defiantly approve of my date today a lot more than the man I slept next to last night though. Not that either man needs your approval, as that choice is mine._

_Even though I have a date today something else is bothering me. Last night Natsu my best friend made the initial bid for me at 100,000 Jewels and ended at 200,000 Jewels. I was so shocked that I didn't move for a couple of minutes after my bid was over. I mean besides contently breaking into my apartment and sleeping in my bed Natsu has never shown that he has any type of feelings for me. Now that I think about it he has been acting weirder than usual around me than usual. I didn't want to admit it last night, but I think Natsu might have feelings for me. I mean last night we nearly..._ (Lucy looked at her alarm clock reading nine thirty.)

_Sorry Mama and Papa but I have to get going to meet my date at the train station._

_Sending you my love_

_Your daughter,_

_Lucy Ashley(Sorry again for changing my last name Papa)._

Lucy grabbed an envelope to stuff the letter in. She was just about to seal it when she remembered that she forgot something. She then unfolded the envelope to add one more thing to the letter.

_P.S. My date's name is Ceadra Talons._

This time the young woman folded the letter and put it in the envelop, sealing it this time before adding it with all the other letters to her parents. She then grabbed her purse and hurried out the door running as fast as she could to the train station.

Little did she know was that Natsu had been awake since her alarm clock had gone off. The young man simply pretended to be asleep as the blonde prepared herself for her date. Natsu then shot out of the bed, opening up the window before jumping out. "I'm going to make sure nothing happens to you Lucy. I'm not going to let that bastard take you from me." He then jumped out the window following his crush from roof to roof.

After several minutes of running Lucy finally arrived at the train station. According to the clock above the ticket booth it was seven minutes to ten. "Whew! I made it on time." She breathed.

* * *

**Natsu**

"Why the train station?" Natsu groaned as felt himself getting queasy at the sight of all the trains. "Regardless I won't take my eyes off of you Lucy." Watching the girl from a safe distance.

* * *

**Lucy**

After catching her breath Lucy began looking for Ceadra. "Where are you Ceadra?" Looking for the man with matted down spiky black hair.

"Lucy over here." Shouted a male voice.

Looking over to the direction the shout came from. She then spotted her date waving towards her who was standing not to far from the ticket booth. He was wearing Brown pants with white button-up shirt. "Good morning Ceadra." Waving back at the man as the two walked towards each other. "So where are we going to go?"

"The train to Akana Resort(the place where the Tower of Heaven arch began) will be leaving in five minutes." A female voice announced over the speaker.

Ceadra put one hand behind his head looking nervous about what he was about to say. "Well I was thinking." With his other hand he pulled out two train tickets. "We could have our date at the Akane Resort.

"What?" Yelled the blonde mage, as another yell of 'What?' was being muffled by the sounds of another train's horn going off.

"I know it sound unthinkable of getting on a train with someone you just meet yesterday for a date, but I have a feeling this may be the only change I'll get to take you on a date. And I want to make it memorable just in case I can get a second one from you.

"Bu-Bu-But how will I now you won't try something funny." Remembering what those Zeref worshipers nearly did to her when the games had ended.

Ceadra pulled a card out of his shirt pocket and handed it over to Lucy. "Your friend with brown hairgave me two of these cards. If we get separated your guild and myself will be able to find you."

"What if you're the one trying to take me?"

The man shook his head as he unbuttoned his shirt to show a seal placed on his upper chest. "If I'm the one who does something this seal will allow your guild to track me down, and it can't be removed by anyone other than your pervy master upon your return."

"I don't know." Looking back and forth between Cana's card, and the seal on Ceadra's chest.

Ceadra gently grabbed a hold of Lucy's hands. "Lucy people say that the first date is an adventure. In order to go on an adventure you have to be willing to take a chance." He was looking into the girls chocolate brown orb with his darker brown orbs. "I won't pressure you to get on the train, but what do you say you take a change with me." He let go of the blonde's hands, but kept one close to her waiting for an answer.

Something about the situation reminded her of when Natsu offered her the change to join Fairy Tail. That decision had put her through a lot of pain, hardships, stress, near death experiences. That decision also gave her a lot of fun, happiness, fulfillment, and the family she always wanted to have. Both options had their pros and cons, but in the end she'd have to say that the pros forever outweighed the cons of her decision to join Fairy Tail.

' _What if I said no to Natsu when he offered to help me join Fairy Tail? What would my life be like right now? What if I never took that chance? I would have regretted it?'_ Thinking of all the good time she had with the guild. Lucy let out a sigh before letting out a room-warming smile. "Alright Ceadra I'll take a chance." Grabbing a hold of the man's out stretched hand. The two then proceeded to board the train.

' _Step two begins_.' Thought Zeref as he boarded the train with Lucy right beside him.

* * *

**Natsu**

"God Fucking Damn it. Why did it have to be a train?" Groaned Natsu pulling his hair as he ran to the ticket booth.

**End Chapter 3.**

**Next Chapter.  
**

**Trains and Arrivals?**


	4. Trains and Arrivals?

**On the Train to Akana Resort.**  
  
Lucy and Zeref were able to find an empty compartment for themselves. They each took a seat nearest to the window opposite of each other so they could watch the scenery change as the train brought them closer to their destination. The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes before they started to talk.  
  
' _Its nice to ride a train normally for a change_.' Thinking of all the shenanigans her team had done on train rides. "This actually feels kind of weird." Said Lucy.  
  
"How so?" Asked Zeref moving his gaze to Lucy.  
  
"Normally when I ride the train it's with my team."  
  
"What's so weird about that?" Now with a puzzled look on his face  
  
"One of them has motion sickness and ends up either laying his head on my lap, or gets knocked out by another member so he can just sleep through the ride, otherwise he throws up all over the train. The second has a stripping problem so he spends half the time on the train trying to find his cloths. The third is only other girl on the team, but I can't really talk to her about normal girl stuff as she's more of a tomboy so topics we can discus are limited, plus she can scare anyone straight."  
  
"Sounds like an interesting team."  
  
"They defiantly are, but I wouldn't trade them for anything." Lucy soon realized she doesn't really know Ceadra at all. "You already know what I do for a living. So what do you do for a living?"  
  
"I'm a member of a guild as well. Rising Phoenix." Rolling up his right sleeve to show a black phoenix insignia just below the shoulder.  
  
"I've never heard of them."  
  
"Probably because you've never been to the island country of Enca." Rolling the sleeve back down.  
  
"What could have brought you all the way from Enca here to Fiore?" Shocked of how far away the man lives from Fiore.  
  
Shrugging his shoulders. "My team and I have been tasked with capturing a rouge mage for the past couple of months now, and our chase has led us here."  
  
"Why are you here on a date with me then if you're supposed to be catching a criminal?"  
  
"I would be, but my two teammates insisted that I took a couple of days off while they hunt down a new lead. Shortly after that I heard about the date night auction your guild was holding, and decided having a nice day with a beauty such as yourself would make for a wonderful day off." Giving her a friendly smile.  
  
Lucy felt her face begin to blush from the complement and quickly went back to looking out the window. She waited until her face went back to its normal color before turning back to her date to speak again. "Since you heard my guild master say that I'm a celestial mage, I wonder what kind of magic do you use?"  
  
Zeref thought for a couple of seconds. He obviously couldn't tell her what kind of magic he truly used. "It's kind of hard to explain."  
  
"We've got time."  
  
"It'll be easier if I just show you." Closing his eyes for a couple of seconds before opening them. "There are 357 people on this train, 52 of which are on this same car, and 34 people on this train are mages like us."  
  
"That's some high level sensory magic you've got there."  
  
"Look up."  
  
doing as she was told. She saw a gray magic circle above her. "What the?" Trying to back away from the magic circle overhead.  
  
"Don't worry its just a dummy spell." Waving the circle away. "As you can see my specialty is in long distance fighting. If I wanted to I could put that circle above anyone I'm able to sense within my range."  
  
"Scary!" Lucy looked worried at what her date was capable of.  
  
"Don't worry I've no intentions of every harming you Lucy." Giving a reassuring grin to the worried blonde.  
  
"Thanks Ceadra, although now I feel sorry for the guy you and your team are tracking down."  
  
"Don't be. He's one of the most wanted men in my country. He won't escape me again." Donning a serious look on his face  
  
'Okay Lucy lets try to change the topic.' Trying to think of a new conversation to something less gloomy when something hit her. "Oh no!" Face palming herself.  
  
"What is it?" Asked Zeref.  
  
"I left your shirt at my apartment." Felling a little embarrassed.  
  
"Don't worry about it I can get it from you when I take you home tonight." Waving the minor issue off.  
  
"I guess you're right. Aghhhhh! " Letting out a yawn.  
  
"Sleepy?"  
  
"Went to bed late last night." Stretching one arm out, while rubbing her eyes with the other one. "Plus I woke up earlier than normal."  
  
"Sorry about that, but this was the only train leaving for Akana Resort in the morning. It will be a couple of hours before the train gets there so if you want to take a nap you can." He reached up into an overhead cuboard that had pillows and blankets in it.  
  
"I can stay awake." Letting out another yawn while she was talking.  
  
"And be tired for the entire date." Holding out the pillow. "The train going back to Magnolia won't leave until eight p.m."  
  
"So you did have something planned last night for our date." Laying herself down as she took the pillow from her date.  
  
"You'll know when you wake up Lucy." Throwing the blanket over her.  
  
"Looking forward to it Ceadra." Lucy said before falling asleep.

* * *

  
**Natsu**  
  
Natsu was in such a hurry to keep an eye on Lucy and his new enemy Ceadra that he had forgotten his motion sickness. Well he forgot it long enough to get in the compartment right across from the two.  
  
"Why did it have to be at train." Natsu groaned as he attempted to keep himself from throwing up.

* * *

  
  
**Zeref**  
  
Two hours later, still on the train.  
  
Zeref adjusted his gaze from the window to the blonde sleeping across the compartment from him. He was recalling the last time he had lain eyes on the girl. It was three months ago in Crocus on the last day of the Grand Magical Games. More specifically leaning against the 'Eclipse Door' underneath Mercurius.  
  
"To think those fools tried to use her the way they did. They thought they could kill me by sacrifice a celestial mage with all twelve Zodiac keys with that magical door. Two can play that game after all I did say this era would be coming to an end." Still looking at Lucy. "It just so happens that they lead me to someone who can help me make that end happen. But I'll be using her for something completely different." Remembering the image he saw when an unconscious Lucy was leaning against the gate. "I wonder if anyone else, or she herself know that she's…"  
  
"Attention all traveler we will be arriving at the Akana Resort in five minutes." Announced the conductor over the speakers.  
  
"Guess its time for phase two to begin." He said as he walked over to the sleeping girl. He gently shook her shoulder. "Hey Lucy its time to wake up."  
  
"INTRUDER!" Lucy shouted as she punched her date in the face sending him stumbling backwards onto his seat.  
  
'Strange that actually hurt.' Rubbing his cheek that was just punched by Lucy.  
  
Looking around to get a view of her surroundings. It didn't take her long to realize that she wasn't in her room, and that she had just punched her date square on the cheek. She quickly stood up and sat down next to Ceadra. "I am so sorry about that Ceadra." Placing her hand over his hand as he continued to rub his cheek. "It's just a habit when someone I'm not familiar with wakes me up."  
  
"What could cause you to have a habit of punching people who wake you up?"  
  
"Remember when I told you my team is weird."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"One of the things that makes them strange is that they are constantly breaking into my apartment acting as if they live there with me."  
  
"Have you tried using a security system?"  
  
"They don't work on them. More specifically it wouldn't stop Natsu." Lucy meant to say the last part in her head, but ended up saying it out loud.  
  
"Why won't it stop this Natsu guy."  
  
"Because I've tried three different companies and the next day I find him sleeping next to me in my bed. That guy will not stop breaking into my apartment."  
  
' _Natsu must have strong feeling for this girl. He must have just recently found them out to be this protective of her_.' Zeref could sense Natsu hurdled over in the fetal position in the compartment right across from them. ' _To bad for him he found out too late.'_ "Still breaks in, Eh? Sound like you like it when he does that."  
  
"I don't." Letting out a small blush. "It's just that I got tired of yelling at him, and just got used to it."  
  
"Sure you don't like him in that way." Pointing out that she was blushing.  
  
"He's just my best friend. Nothing more, and nothing less." She was now pouting.  
  
"Okay then. Sorry about upsetting you…"  
  
The train started to slow down until it came to a complete stop. "Ladies and Gentlemen we have now arrived at the Akana Resort. We will be leaving for our next destination in four minutes. We hope you enjoyed the ride if this is your stop." Said the conductor over the speakers.  
  
"Lets get this date started then." Extending his arm out bent at the elbow as he opened the compartment door.  
  
"Oh, boy you really are old school." She wrapped her arm around his so they were connected be the inside of each other's elbow. "Luckily for you I find it to be charming." Smiling at her date.  
  
The two walked out of the compartment and into the isle. Zeref could sense Natsu was getting his bearing back. 'Sorry Natsu, but I won't allow you to interfere with my plans.' He tapped the door to Natsu room casting a sealing-spell. 'That seal won't break until this train starts to move again. Have fun Natsu.' Zeref and Lucy quickly made their way off the train. They then just as quickly exited the train station and were now looking at the Akana Resort. Upon exiting they heard the train that had brought them there take off. Strangely it sounded like someone was screaming, but it was mostly muffled out by the trains horn.  
  
"Did you hear something?" Asked Lucy looking back at the station.  
  
"Nope!" Replied Zeref. 'Natsu's hopes and dreams of you dying.'  
  
"So what should we do first?"  
  
"I'm not sure. I picked this place out because of all of its possibilities."  
  
"So in other words whatever ends up calling out to us."  
  
"Just a long as we get back here by eight. That is unless you want to spend the night here with me." Giving a somewhat perverted smile.  
  
Lucy looked at the clock over the train station reading twelve thirty. "That gives us about seven hours."  
  
 _'More than enough time.'_  
  
"How's about we check out the beach first?" Lucy suggested excitedly.  
  
"But we don't have swim suits." Zeref pointed out. "Besides weren't you embarrassed yesterday by what your pervert of a master made you wear."

* * *

  
  
**Makarov**  
  
"ACHOO!" Makarov sneezed. "Some one just spoke ill of me." Wiping his nose.

* * *

  
  
**Lucy**  
  
"I was, but I won't have to put on that costume ever again. This time I'll be able to pick out my swimsuit." Said Lucy still exited. "Plus you'll be showing off just as much as I will." Now imagining what Ceadra looked like without a shirt on.  
  
"Did you essentially just say you wanted to see me naked?"  Zeref asked.  
  
Blushing madly from what she just heard. "No! No! No!" Waving her arms in the air. "That's not what I meant. Can we just go, it's been a long time since I've been to the beach"  
  
Just by looking at her face he could see that the girl really wanted to go to the beach underneath that blush of embarrassment. "Alright then…" he was then immediately being dragged by the arm by Lucy "But I get to pick the next activity."  
  
"There has to be a shop somewhere around here." Looking at the surrounding buildings. "There's one." Pointing at a wall less shop that had numerous swim trunks, one pieces, bikinis, beach shirts, sunglasses, sandals, and any other beach accessory you could imagine. Once you took a closer look the shop was divided into different sections. 70% was dedicated to female swimsuits, 20% beach accessories, and 10% for guys' swimsuits. The blonde was already lost in the sheer amount of swimsuits before her.  
  
"How's about we split up, and meet at the front desk in five minutes." Watching his date disappear in the sea of beach clothing.  
  
"Okay." She said as she looked for the one bathing suit to scream out to her to buy.  
  
15 Minutes later.  
  
Zeref was leaning his back against the front desks counter. "What's taking her so long?" Having already bought and put on his black swim trunks with gold linings, and white tank top.  
  
"You're new to dating aren't you buddy?" Asked a male cashier. He was dressed in simple red swim trunks, and a yellow tank top.  
  
"It's been a while." He admitted. ' _Couple hundred years.'_  
  
"Helpful tip one guy to another. Next time you take a girl out to the beach you have her get a bathing suit before hand. They tend to be picky about what they wear."  
  
"I'll keep that in mind next time." He then saw Lucy walk towards the counter.  
  
"Sorry I took so long, Ceadra." Said Lucy as she put her clothes on the counter to be rung up.  
  
"No problem Lucy."  
  
"That'll be x Jewels." Said the cashier after ringing everything up.  
  
"Okay then."  Pulling the wallet out of her purse.  
  
"No you don't." Said Zeref as he put the money in the cashier's hands.  
  
"Hey I can pay for those myself."  
  
"I paid for this date with you. You shouldn't have to buy anything while our date is going on." Trying to reason with her  
  
The two had an argument over who would pay for the purchase as the cashier began to sweat-drop as he watched. ' _This guy is either old school, or really is new to dating.'_ Eventually Zeref won the argument so the cashier wrung up the purchase. "Okay ma'am please step onto the red circle on the ground please." She did as she was told. "And Curtain-Change."  
  
In a flash of light Lucy was changed into the clothing she just bought. Unfortunately for all the guys waiting to see what she would look like in her swim suit she was covered by a long yellow T-shirt with a white and pink flower design coming down to her thighs. "How'd you do that, and where are all of my things?" Asking the cashier looking for her purse, whip, and keys.  
  
"Its a new re-quipping circle that changes you into your new clothing. Don't worry about your things. I put them in a locker that will keep them safe until you return for them." The cashier explained.  
  
"You took my money though. What if I need to buy something on the beach?"  
  
"Don't worry." Said Zeref pointing at a red bracelet on his wrist. "This acts as a credit card that'll keep track of anything we buy on the beach, and pay for it later."  
  
Lucy noticed she didn't have a bracelet on her wrist. "How old school are you? You know it is okay to let women pay for something on a date right?"  
  
Not feeling like having another argument so he compromised. "Okay then, how's about I pay for everything on the beach, and you buy dinner latter tonight." Extending his hand for the agreement.  
  
"Deal." Reaching out to shake his hand. "Now lets go to the beach." The two then walked out of the shop, and on their way to the beach.  
  
 **End Chapter 4.**  
  
 **Next Chapter.**  
  
 **The Beach and Casino?**


	5. The Beach and Casino?

It was a four-minute walk from the beach shop to the actual beach. The sight of it was magnificent. The pearly white sands on the beach clear of any trash. The ebb and flow of the crystal clear tide kept a cool wind coming their way helping to combat the heat the sun beating down on them. On the beach were hundreds of people doing various activities from building sandcastles, tanning, surfing, people playing volleyball, swimming, children burying their parents up to their necks in sand, and pretty much anything else you could imagine people doing on the beach.

"Wow!" Said Lucy looking the beach in all its beauty.

"Lot of people." Said Zeref seeing people doing a lot of things he had never seen before.

"It's a beach what do you expect?" Trying to think of what they should do first as they walked down the beach trying to find a spot to set their stuff up.

"Back on Enca we don't have nearly as much people. That and our beaches are covered with rocks."

"That's right you're not from here." Remembering the conversation they had on the train. "I guess I'll have to show you how to have a good time on the beach." Lucy spotted a patch of unused sand big enough for them to set the towels down to claim that spot for them to use.

"What's surfing?" Zeref asked seeing a makeshift stand offering to teach the tourists how to surf.

(A/N. Going to be honest. I don't know anything about surfing myself so if things seem off or wrong I'm sorry. I'm pretty much winging this half of the chapter.)

"It's basically you keeping your balance on a plank of wood as you ride a wave." Lucy trying to explain surfing pointing towards a group taking turns riding the waves.

"Is it fun?" Trying himself to figure out how those surfers were having a good time as one went under the water for a few seconds.

"I don't know. I've never really tried it." Last time she was on a beach she wanted to learn how to surf, but Gray and Erza had no interest that day, and Natsu couldn't even try due to his motion sickness.

"You want to?" Pointing at the stand he saw a couple of seconds ago.

"Sure why not." She said as the two walked up to the instructor. "Excuse me sir." Trying to get the man's attention.

A tanned middle-aged man with short green hair walked up to the other side wearing only dark blue swim trunks. "How may I be of assistance to you two on this fine day?" Giving his could be customers a welcoming smile.

"We'd like to learn how to surf." Said Zeref.

"First off you two do now how to swim? Right?"

"Yes." Zeref and Lucy answered together.

"Tap your bracelet on my register and you've got me for two hours." Zeref did as the man instructed. "Great my name is Jared." Reaching out to shake his customers' hands

"I'm Ceadra." Shaking Jared's hand

"I'm Lucy." Shaking his hand as well.

"Good! Now take off your shirts, grab a board, and follow me." Said Jared who waited for them to pick out boards.

Zeref took off his white tank top leaving him only dressed in his black swim trunks with gold linings. Compared to Natsu and Gray he had more of a lean build.

' _Not too bad looking_.' Thought Lucy eyeing her date not noticing that she was blushing.

Noticing the blush on his date's face. "Like what you see." Stretching his arms out and spun around so she could see him better.

"Maybe." Not denying that he looked good shirtless. Now it was time for her to take her shirt off. Slowly sliding the shirt up she revealed her black bikini with a yellow shooting star design.

' _She looks even better than she did last night._ ' Now able to see all of her curves much clearer than the night prior.

"Like what you see?" Lucy returned the question seeing him now eyeing her.

"I'd have to be blind not to."

"Hey you two just going to stare at each other or you wanna learn how to surf?" Asked Jared minorly impatient.

"Coming." The two said simultaneously. Lucy grabbed a pink board while Zeref grabbed a gray one. Zeref had caught up to Jared while Lucy followed the two.

"Nice catch buddy." Jared said sticking his fist out to Zeref.

"Thanks?" Awkwardly tapping the other mans fist with his own.

Over the next hour, and forty minutes Jared taught the two the basics of surfing. Heavily stressing how important balance on the board was and keeping your cool. After both falling into the water nearly a dozen times each they started to get the hang of it and started to ride a couple baby waves.  Looking at his watch "Sorry I was hopping I could teach you two a little faster, but we're running out of time." He said. "I know this might feel like cheating, but I want you two to know what it feels like to ride a bigger wave." The next instant Jared transformed himself into dark blue surfboard. "Go ahead and hop on."

The two did as they had been told to do with Lucy in front and Zeref right behind her. They where now sitting on the transformed Jared one leg on each side. Next they got in line to grab a wave.

(A/N. Again I don't know much about surfing so I don't know if you can actually surf with two people on one board.)

"There's the one for you two." Said Jared somehow seeing a fifteen-foot high wave coming in.

"That's a big one." Lucy gulped.

"Don't worry Lucy." Said Zeref gently squeezing her side. "It'll be alright."

The act helped calm her down. "Thanks Ceadra."

"Paddle." Jared instructed them. They did getting lined up to ride the wave. Soon enough they began to ascend up the wave. "Now carefully stand up."

Zeref managed to stand keeping his balance. Lucy on the other hand ended up slipping.

"AGGHH!" She yelled expecting to fall into the wave. Instead her date grabbed a hold of her taking charge to get them balanced, as they were now halfway up the wave. Looking behind her she saw a confident look on her dates face. "Thanks."

"Don't look at me. Look ahead." Keeping the two lined up.

Looking forward she saw that the top of the wave gave way and was crashing into the rest of the wave just below them. She then realized they were riding inside a pocket of the wave. One hand in front of her and the other behind, Both feet spread apart, while crouched down to keep her head from touching the wave.

Looking around the inside of the pocket all she could see was the crystal clear water. It was a sensational feeling being surrounded by the water wanting to sweep her away in an instant, yet at the same time something unexplainable was making her feel safe _. 'This must be what it is like to be in the eye of the storm.'_

"Amazing isn't it?" Ceadra whispered into her ear seeing the exact same thing.

Somehow she had forgotten about the man standing behind her. Was he the reason she felt safe? Only then did she feel their fingers interlocked, his feet just touching hers, finally his cool, wet, firm chest slightly pressed against her back. "Yeah, it is." She said as they exited the wave safely.

One minute later the three of themselves back at Jared's booth. "You two have fun?" Handing each of them a bottle of water.

"Yeah!" Said Lucy after drinking half of her bottle of water.

"Oh Yeah!" Said Zeref who actually enjoyed surfing a lot more than he thought he would.

"Next time you two come hopefully I'll get you to on more than one wave." Smiling more towards himself that he made his customers happy. "Now you two enjoy the rest of your date." Waving them goodbye.

"Will do. Thanks again for the lessons Jared." They said waving goodbye walking to where they left their towels. Grabbing them they began to dry off.

"I think its time for a change of scenery." Zeref declared.

"What? Why?" Lucy asked not wanting to leave the beach just yet.

"We just spent the last two hours learning how to surf." Throwing his towel over his shoulders to dry off his back. "Besides I don't know about you but its getting a little hot out."

Only when hementioned it did she realize just how hot it was. "Yeah it is getting hot." Rubbing her legs dry. "That and I guess I'm a little tired too."

"Then lets head back and get our stuff." Leading the way off the beach.

Ten minutes later the two returned to the shop where they had bought their swim gear, and changed back to what they were originally wearing, and got all other possessions back. After getting his wallet back Zeref paid for the surfing lessons before leaving the shop.

"What time is it?" Asked Lucy looking for a clock.

"One sec." Extended his left arm halfway forward before casting a spell. Two feet in front of the two appeared a clock with the big hand pointing at two and the small hand pointing at three. "Three, ten."

"So we have less than five hours left before we have to be at the train station."

"And you picked the beach so it's my turn to pick something out." Beginning to ponder what they should do next.

Lucy only looked a Ceadra as he thought of what they should do next.

Snapping his fingers. "I got it." He said grabbing his dates hand as he lead her to their next destination. After a five-minute walk the two now stood in front of a casino. "You feeling lucky Lucy."

"Is that a challenge Ceadra." Giving a competitive smile.

The black haired man pulled out two thousand jewels giving half of it to Lucy(I'm betting Jewels are based off of the Japanese currency so it translates to $12.58 American each.). "Let's see who walks out with more." Returning the challenging smile.

Lucy took the jewels from Ceadra. "What's the winner get."

"Bragging rights." Opening the door for his date.

"Really that's it?"

"How's about winner picks what's for dinner?"

"Deal! Just so you know my parents named me after their guild Love and Lucky after seeing the K fell off. So my nickname is Lucky Lucy." Entering the casino first.

"We'll see about that." Walking in after his date.

Inside the Casino were several table games for every fifty-two-card game you could think of, as well as other games of chance. Nearly fifty slot machines most of them being played. Several girls dressed in nearly identical bunny costume Lucy wore the night prior serving drinks to all the guests gambling. Off to the left was a stage for various performers to entrain anyone who would watch them. Currently on the stage was a jazz band playing. Finally on the right was a buffet with every type of food you could imagine.

Over the course of nearly two hours the duo had gambled at nearly every game the casino had to offer. Anything they had won at one game they would lose at the next. In all they were having an enjoyable time for the first seventy minutes before sitting down to enjoy the jazz band playing for a while talking about various missions they had taken. After that they decided to hit the blackjack tables hard. There they played along side an older couple.

After nearly forty hands Zeref was staring at Lucy's large pile of chips she had built since they sat down. Next he looked at the last of his on the line for what could be his last hand of the night.

"Black Jack!" Shouted Lucyhappily looking at her two-card combo of the queen and ace of hearts. Again her pile of chips grew.

Trying to count how much she had won, but kept on losing track due to the pace the dealer was keeping his table at.

"Sir hit or stay sir?" Asked the bald dealer wearing a red vest with a white dress shirt underneath, and black pants(Everyone working a table at the casino is wearing the same thing.).

Looking at his current cards he had a four of diamonds and a king of spades. The dealer had a king of clubs with a face down card. "Hit." He said. He was dealt an eight of diamonds.

"Twenty-two, Bust." Said the dealer taking away the last of his chips.

"I'm out." Standing up from his seat so someone else could take his seat that had the money to play. He now stood behind Lucy who gave him an 'I beat you' look.

"Looks like you just became my eye candy." Said the blonde grinning.

All he could do was nod his head. He wasn't expecting to lose his chips before Lucy. _'Guess she really is Lucky.'_

"Continue on Ma'am?" Asked the dealer looking frustrated at the blonde who was giving him a beating at his own game.

"Actually." Pushing forward two identical stacks of chips to the one she currently had out forward. "I'd like to play with two more hands."

This action made the dealer begin to sweat more than he currently was. ' _This girl is going to get me fired_.' He thought. That was until his superior tapped him on the shoulder.

"I'll take over this table from here." The previous dealer left his table as he was basically told to take the rest of the day off. "Ready for this Missy?" Asked the head dealer who had short brown hair, and goatee. "My name is Gonzo. The head dealer of this Casino."

Frequent visitors to the casino began to flock around the table. They began to whisper that the girl was now in trouble as nobody left with much after Gonzo took over a table. Seeing the new dealer the older couple they had been playing alongside stood up, as they knew better than to play against the man.

Seeing that her two other table mates had left Lucy did something that shocked all the locals. "If that's the case." Sorting through her chips. "I'd like to increase my bets and play with a fourth hand if that's alright Gonzo." Adjusting her chips accordingly.

' _You're going down Blondie._ ' Though Gonzo as he began to reshuffle the deck of cards. "No problem Ma'am."

' _So they replaced the previous dealer with a mage._ ' Zeref sensing a magical energy being channeled into the deck of cards being shuffled. ' _A dirty trick._ ' Beginning to cast his own magic on the deck of cards from behind Lucy. ' _Let's see how you play when your magic gets canceled out._ '

Four games later.

Gonzo was perplexed. Out of the sixteen hands he had dealt to the blonde he had only managed to beat three of those hands. ' _What's going on here? I should have complete control over this deck._ ' Shuffling for the next set of hands.

Lucy looked at her hands. The first one had the queen of hearts, and the jack of spades. "Stay." The second hand king of diamonds and ace of clubs. "Black Jack." She had the eight of spades and seven of hearts in the third. "Hit." Got dealt a six of spades. "Another Black Jack." Final hand contained an ace of clubs and seven of clubs. "Hit." Got dealt a nine of spades. "Seventeen, I'll stay."

Gonzo had a jack of spades face up. Flipping his second card was a six of hearts. "Hit." Dealing himself a six of clubs. "Twenty-two, Bust." He then pushed over what Lucy had won with all four of her hands. ' _God fucking damn it! What the hell is happening I should have complete control? Yet I'm losing._ ' Staring at the sea of chips the blonde had in front of her. ' _Oh well as the saying goes the house always wins._ ' Pressing a button under the table to signal for the bouncers to kick this girl out.

Zeref sensed the desperation coming from Gonzo before pressing the button, and seconds latter felt four muscular men getting closer to the table. ' _If you had played fair this would not be necessary.'_ The then cast a weaker death spell on _the dealer. 'This won't kill you so take this opportunity to learn to play fair next time._ '

The dealre grabbed at his heart before falling to the ground shaking violently on the floor.

Tapping on one of the beverage girls' shoulders. "Could you help me and my date cash these out." Pointing at Lucy's winnings.

"Sure." Said the girl with a concerned look on her face as four men in black suits began to tend to Gonzo.

Now tapping on Lucy who was also concerned about the fallen dealer. She turned to face him. "It's time to get out of here."

"But what about him?"  worried for the man like everyone else.

"Look at the men tending to him."

Lucy looked to see they were all dressed in black suits.

"Those men were about to kick you out for winning to much." The girl he had asked for assistance from came back pushing a cart. "If we don't leave now they're going to take all your winnings." Starting to put the chips on the cart.

Realizing what Ceadra said was correct, and immediately started to move her chips onto the cart. Over the course of the next ninety seconds the duo managed to get all chips on the cart, pushed it over to the cash out desk, collected the money the celestial mage had won in blackjack, and finally ran out the door  "Wow that was close." Said Lucy counting all the money she had won. "Good eye catching those bouncers before I ended up getting it all taken away." Finishing counting her winnings. "Wow I started off with a thousand Jewels($12.58 American) and walked out with two-hundred, and Sixty thousand Jewels($3,269.62 American). That's my new best." The girl then divided the cash in half and offered half of the jewels to her date.

Even though there was over a hundred thousand jewels being waved in front of him he only took a thousand of it. "Where'd you learn to gamble like that?" Thinking that his date was an innocent girl.

"I've been in two other casinos, and did the exact same thing both times. Unluckily for me though I didn't know when to stop, and was forced out both times getting robbed of what I won." Rubbing the back of her head with her free hand while still holding the cash out with the other. "You can take the rest. After all you did help me get this out and gave me the money to start.

"I only took what I gave you initially. The rest of that you earned yourself." Pushing away the jewels the girl had offered him. "Besides if I remember right you're the one paying for dinner."

The two looked at there surrounding to see that even though it was still day time it was slowly beginning to get dark outside.

"Speaking of dinner if we plan to do it here we'd better find a place soon." Looking at his spell clock. "We have less than two hours before the train ride home."

"Now that you mention it I am getting hungry." She admitted as her tummy grumbled.

"Then lets get something for dinner. Your choice since you won our bet." Stretching out his right hand towards Lucy.

The blonde grabbed a hold of his hand as they began walking down the streets looking for a place to eat while holding onto the others hand. "What sounds good?" Trying to think of something she hasn't had in a long time.

* * *

**Natsu**.

An hour earlier Natsu had arrived at the next train station where he did manage to get off. Unfortunately his day on the cursed traveling demons wasn't even close to being done as he immediately walked to the ticket booth like a zombie.

"When is the next train going to the Akana resort leaving?" He asked the female ticket saleswoman. His voice filled with dread. Already he could feel his stomach begin to do churn at the thought of getting back on the train so soon.

"It will be leaving in three minutes." She answered too cheerfully for his current mood with a smile on her face.

"One ticket for that train please." Handing her the money for the ticket.

The saleswoman quickly rung Natsu up and handed him the ticket. "Here you go sir. I hope you enjoy the ride."

"Not going to happen." He grumbled boarding essentially his third train ride that day. "I'm coming Lucy." Those were his last words before the train began to move back to the resort. "Fuck!" Throwing up what little content his stomach had left. ' _Mavis kill me now!_ ' He begged knowing it would be nearly three hours before he got back to the resort.

**End chapter5.**

**Next chapter.**

**Dinner, Photos, and Stargazing?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this story is coming off lame right now. Trust me things will start to pick up in the next chapter.


	6. Dinner, Photos, and Stargazing?

After a couple of minutes of walking around trying to decide what to have for dinner Lucy made the choice to eat at a steak house. After thinking about it, it had been a long time since she had one. Mostly due to her teammates destructiveness during missions leaving her to scrape by after paying her rent, bills, food for the month, and other necessities.

"You sure this is what you want?" Asked Zeref hand ready to open the door. "You're not just picking this out for me?"

"Yes I'm sure." Lucy answered. "It's been a long time since I've had the money to have a good steak." Try as she may a steak was one of the few things couldn't cook right. Even Mira the best cook in Fairy Tail couldn't cook one very well. One would think Natsu would be capable of cooking one, but he always got impatient and ends up either overcooking the meat or burning it to a crisp.

"Okay then." Opening the door for his date.

"Welcome to the Golden Steer. My name is Zoey." The hostess smiled at the entering customers. She wore a simple pure strapless black dress ending right above the knee, she also had long brown hair coming down to he lower back, and eyes that matched her hair. "Will it be just the two of you tonight?"

"Yes it will be." Said Zeref.

Looking down at her notes of table being used she saw a table for two open. "You two are in luck I have a table open right now." Grabbing two menus she led the two to their table.

The inside of the restaurant was quite the opposite of the name. The restaurant was lit by candlelight giving enough light so you could see but not so dim that it would hurt your eyes. All the wait staff wore black button up shirts and black pants. All around them were table filled with other couples enjoying dinner with a date or as a family.

"Here's your table." Stopping at a table for two. The table had a white tablecloth over it with glasses, forks, knives, napkins, and a candle in the center giving off a gentle light.

Zeref being the gentleman he was pulled a seat out for Lucy to sit down in before pushing it back in. He then sat himself down in the opposite seat.

Zoey then handed the two a menu each before departing. "I hope you two enjoy your meal."

"Hello there my name is Tyler." A man with purple hair walked up to the table. "I'll be your waiter on this fine evening." Taking out a small note pad. "I see that Zoey just gave you your menus so while you decide can I get you two anything to drink?"

"I'll have a glass or red wine." Said Zeref.

"I'll have the same." Said Lucy.

"I'll be back with those drinks in a few minutes while you look over the menu." Tyler said before walking away.

"Hmm. Didn't think you'd be the kind to drink." Said Zeref

"I'll drink wine every once in a while. I just can't drink anything else." Said Lucy.

Both looked at the menu in silence for a minute.

"Know what you're getting?" Asked Lucy.

"Yeah." He answered back putting the menu down. "You?"

"Yeah!" Now setting her menu down as well.

Right then Tyler appeared with a bottle of red wine and filled two wineglasses half-full. "Shall I leave the bottle?"

"Yes please." Said Zeref.

"Have you two decided on what you'll be having." Taking out a pen and note pad.

"I'll have the Top Sirloin medium, with the twice baked potato." Lucy ordered her dinner.

"I'll have the Rib Eye rare pink not bloody, the house soup, and a side of sautéed onions." Zeref ordered.

Tyler wrote down the order. "Alright I'll come back in a while to check up on you two." Taking the menus away.

The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes unsure of what to do while they waited for the meal to come. They would occasionally take a sip on the wine hoping for the other to break the silence. In honesty the only time they had spoken was during the train ride, and at the casino lounge. When they did talk they talked about their respective guilds, teammates, and missions they had taken.

"So any ideas of what to talk about?" Asked Lucy trying to break the awkward silence.

"Well since we already talked about our guilds the next easy one would be our families." Said Zeref his hands folded under his chin.

Lucy's expression saddened. "Both of my parents are dead, and I'm an only child." Her voice matching her expression.

"Sorry about that." His smile vanished.

"It's okay you didn't know." Trying to cheer herself up. "How about you. Do you have any family?"

This time Zeref's expression changed. Unlike Lucy though his became serious with a minor hint of anger. "Like you I'm also an only child. My mother died giving birth to me, and I have no idea what my father is up to."

"I'm sorry." Knowing the feeling of not having your parents around anymore.

"Like me you didn't know either." Trying to wave the conversation off. "I guess the conversation of family wasn't a good idea."

"Normally it's not a bad idea. It just so happens that we both lost our parents." Trying to think of a new topic, but thought of something. "Oh sorry I guess you still have your father." Trying to cheer the atmosphere of the table up.

"That's not really a constellation." Lucy's smiled disappeared after hearing that. Seeing his dates smile disappear he knew he need to explain himself. "Let's just say we never really saw eye to eye.

' _So he has father issues as well._ '

"All because I was born with magic." Zeref said softly. Only after hearing his words did he realize he meant to keep it to himself.

"What do you mean because you were born with magic."

The black wizards let out a sigh. "You sure you want to know?"

"Yes!" Said Lucy wanting to know. ' _We may have quite a bit in common._ '

"As we both know magic is common to the world, but for the village I grew up in it wasn't." Staring intensely at his wineglass.

"What do you mean?" Already concerned where this story was going

"I was born in a vary remote village on Enca that cut itself off from the rest of the world fearing the magic they possessed. To my dismay I was the first person in my village born with magical powers. No one knew how to react after I cast my first spell after all they all purposefully cut themselves away from magic. They thought me to be a demon. Some even went as far to blame me for my mothers death."

"No way."  

"I wish I was joking. I was six at the time. After that day everyone looked at me as though I was a monster. They even went as far as throwing me in a cell while trying to figure out what to do with me. For seven days I was all alone in that cold cell while they discussed what to do to me." He took a sip of wine. "Such loneliness I felt. The only time I saw someone was when a guard came to give me my meals. On the seventh day two men walked by talking. I only managed to hear one word…Execution."

"Your village was going to execute you. How could such a thing be aloud." Barely controlling herself from yelling in the restaurant after what she had heard.

"Like I said it was a remote village I grew up in thinking magic was the tools of the devil."

"That's still no excuse!"

Lifting his hand up he signaled to his date to calm and sit down. "After I heard of the plan I made my own to escape. The moment they opened my prison door I used all my magic in any form I could to make a run for it. I just managed to escape with my life." Taking another sip of wine. "I kept running for what felt like days until I ran into another village. Fortunately for me I ran to a village accepting of a mage like me. Soon I was taken in by the local guild."

"Rising Phoenix?"

"Yes." Taping his concealed guild mark. "They welcomed me with open arms allowing me to become part of their family. My true family."

Lucy began to smile. "I'm glad."

"Huh?" Looking at Lucy who for some reason he couldn't explain was smiling at him.

"You managed to run away from a family that couldn't accept you for who you were and found a new one." Lifting up her right hand to show her guild mark. "You and me have a similar past, except yours was the tougher of the two."

Zeref remained silent to hear Lucy's story.

"Like I said both of my parents are gone. My mother died when I was ten, and my father couldn't handle the loss. He was a successful businessman who became obsessed with work after her death. So much that he neglected me. The only time I saw him was when he tried to use me as a bargaining chip to his fellow businessmen. That's all I was to him after my mother died."

"So you must have really hated what your master did to you last night."

Shaking her head. "I'll admit I wasn't to fond of the ideas at first because of my past, but it wasn't taking away any of my free will." Lucy took a couple sips of wine before continuing. "Like you I was locked up, but in a cold and lonely mansion cut off from the rest of the world. My father wasn't a mage, but my mother was, and that magic started to show after mama's passing."

"I assume that didn't make him too happy."

"It didn't." Letting out a heavy sigh doing her best to hold back the tears she normally shed thinking of her past. "One thing I should point out is that I look exactly like my mother and as I kept growing my looks became more similar to hers. Even our magic is the same."

"That mustn't be easy. Having a child who pretty much turns out to be a carbon copy of your deceased love."

"No it wasn't easy on him. I actually think that's why he distanced himself from me. After years of the continued treatment I did what I should have done long before."

"You ran away."

"I had to other wise the real me would have faded away according to my fathers wishes. Only after I ran away did he pay attention to me because once again he needed me as a bargaining chip to seal a business deal."

"Is that what lead to the war between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord?"

Lucy was taken by surprise by the question. "How did you know that?"

"I remember hearing about it during one of my travels here in Fiore. I would imagine that the two of you soon had a confrontation about what he had done."

"We did. I told him off and that I never wanted to see him again." Lucy then told Zeref about how her father soon lost control of his company forcing him back to his old guild. How he begged her for money to get to Love and Lucky. Then how her along with half of Fairy Tail had missed seven years due to Fairy Sphere saving them from Acnologia.

That piece of information shocked Zeref as that would mean Lucy was on Tenrou Island when he had Acnologia destroy it. ' _To think I nearly had her killed._ ' Taking a sip to hide any facial expression that might slip.

"After we came back I tried to reconnect with my father." Sadness returned to her voice.

"Things didn't got to well did they?"

"Actually it turns out he died one month before we came back. After I read his final letter to me did I find out that he did care for me and I forgave him for what he did to me." Wiping away a small tear that had shed while telling her story.

"You're stronger than I am Lucy."

"Huh?"

"You had the power to forgive your father. I can't even get close to mine to even talk to him."

"You could always try. After all you're not the demon they thought you were." Giving her date an encouraging look.

' _If you only knew they would one day be right about me._ ' Zeref thought. "Maybe I'll try when I go back home to Enca."  Reaching for the wine bottle left on the table to refill their glasses. Once filled he raised his up while silently telling the blonde to do the same. "I'd like to make a toast."

"To what?" Asked a confused Lucy. Lifting up her wineglass.

"To our fathers for in some unexplainable way of brining us together tonight."

"Cheers." Clinging the to glassed together. For everyone else hearing the noise looked at the two before clapping for the two guessing that they were celebrating something. Once the clapping died down Tyler came up to them serving them dinner. Once they got their meal they went back to telling stories about the missions they had taken to lighten the mood from the previous conversation. Lucy even brought up the experience she had in Edolas. Once the meal was finished she paid for the dinner before leaving.

Stepping outside the restaurant Zeref cast his clock spell. "7:40. Time to head back to the train station."

"Seems like we only just got here." A little disappointed the date would soon end.

The two started to make their way to the train station.

"I had a great time today." Said Lucy smiling. "Thank you, Ceadra."

"It's not over till I get you home."

"You two lovebirds want a keepsake for this day?" Asked a stranger wearing beige shorts and a pink flowery Hawaiian print shirt. The man had a camera hanging from his neck. "If you have a few moments I can get you two a couple of photos to remember the day." The two only had to look at each other to now the answer was yes.

Zeref reached for his wallet. "How much?"

The cameraman motioned for him to put the wallet away. "For you two I'll give you three shots for free. Now lets brighten the scenery." Casting a strange spell turning the darkness to daylight around them. "Now take a pose." Bringing his camera to his eye.

For the first picture Zeref threw his arm over Lucy's shoulder pulling her in while she did the same with her arm as the two smiled for the camera.

"Excellent." The cameraman took the first picture "New pose."

Zeref using his other arm picked Lucy up by the back of her legs while keeping a hold of her upper body with the arm around her shoulder so now he held her bridal style. Lucy expression was of surprise and shock while Zeref's smile only grew from watching Lucy's change.

"Even better." Taking the second shot. "Last one, make it memorable."

For some reason unknown to her Lucy using her arm still wrapped around her dates neck pulled him down and turned her head to place a small kiss on her date's checks causing both of them to blush. This time however Zeref was the one to have a surprised look on his face while half of Lucy's face was hidden from the camera. Despite that fact you could see the smile on her face while she kept her lips on the man's cheek.

"Perfect!" Said the mysterious photographer taking the third and final picture. "Now give me a minute and I will have a set of pictures for the two of you." Working more of his magic to produce the pictures.

While the photographer did he work Zeref turned to look at Lucy. "Why did you kiss me?" Still blushing form it.

"I don't know." her own blush darkened. "I guess it just felt right."

Zeref smiled sweetly at her. ' _Good things are working just as I planed_.' "I guess it did." The two just continued to blush, stare and smile at the other for a timeless moment.

"Okay here's your…" The photographer began to say before he realized the beautiful moment he was so close to ruining. ' _What a cute couple._ ' Looking at the three pictures he had taken of the two _. 'They're going to value these for a long time.'_

The two were lost to the world for a while until they heard the sounds of a train arriving at the station. "Crap the train." they said. Zeref started to run for the station with Lucy still in his arms. "The pictures." Halting his run to go back to the photographer.

When she heard the word picture she noticed something in her hand not wrapped around Ceadra's neck. Looking down she saw two sets of pictures in her hands. "I have them."

"Okay then." Quickly turning around to run to the station before the train left. In no time he had run to the ticket booth stopping once he got to the counter. "Two tickets to Magnolia."

"Uh, is she alright?" The lady in charge of the ticket booth asked pointing at the blonde.

Looking down he saw that Lucy was still in his arms who was now blushing from embarrassment.

"I'm just fine." she said while being set down.

"Okay then, here are your tickets." The saleswoman handed the couple their tickets. "Enjoy the ride."

"Thank you!" They both said as they went to board the train that would take them back to Magnolia. Once again they were able to find a compartment for themselves waiting for the train to start moving again.

* * *

**Natsu**

Natsu stumbled his way off of the damned monster people decided to call trains. His face was pale and cool to the touch from his severe cased of motion sickness. If it weren't for the fact he wasn't grabbing for someone he could easily be mistaken for a zombie.

"Finally off the train." Doing the weakest cheer he'd ever done hearing the train he just got off of take off. "Now got to go find Lucy." Using his nose he began to sniff his crush out. He soon found her scent of strawberries and vanilla. "No-o-o-o-o." He literally began to cry as the scent immediately went back to the train that just took off. Slowly he walked to the ticket counter.

"Hello how may I…" The saleswoman began before seeing her newest customer. "Oh my god sir, are you okay?" Her smile vanished looking at the pale sickly looking man before her.

"I'd like a ticked for the next train to Magnolia." Ignoring the girls worries for him.

"That train won't arrive for another fifty minutes. Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital you look…"

"I'll wait for the train." Buying a ticked for his forth train ride that day. Unlike the previous three train rides he would have to wait before getting on whereas the last three he was able to board immediately. "What did I do to deserve this?" Now sitting down on a bench just waiting for the demonic contraption to take him back home.

* * *

**ZerCy**

The two sat down in silence for the longest stretch of time. For Lucy thinking of how this was the best day of her life so far. Zeref thinking he needed to do one more thing with the blonde before he got her home. Looking out he window he knew exactly what to do. Reaching up into the over head compartment he grabbed a couple of blankets before turning to his date "Follow me." He said walking out of the compartment carrying the blankets with him.

"Where are you going?" She asked curiously getting up out of her seat.

"You have to follow me to find out."

Letting out a sigh. "Alright wait up for me." Following Ceadra who soon enough opened up the door between the cars on the trains. "Seriously where are you leading me?"

The black haired man ignored her as he climbed up the ladder to the roof of the train throwing the two blankets over his shoulder.

"Are you crazy?"

After climbing to the top he turned around offering a hand to help her up the ladder. "You've trusted me all day so far. Do you really think I'd bring you up here if I couldn't keep you safe?"

For some odd reason his voice wasn't being distorted like it should have been because of the wind. But in the end he was right. He had done nothing wrong that day that would make her not trust him. Slowly Lucy began to climb the ladder with Ceadra helping her up when she was close enough. Again something seemed strange, as there was no wind blowing in her face once she stood up on the roof of the train. "How?"

Pointing towards two magic circles he had created. "I can make my spell circles solid." He claimed as they prevented the wind from hitting the two. "But that's not what I brought you here to see." Throwing the two blankets over the hard metal surface of the train. Next he laid down on the two blankets patting to his left side for his date to lay down next to him.

Slowly Lucy got closer to his side as she took her time to lay down next to him. Now looking us she saw what he wanted to show her. On this cool October night there was not a single cloud in the vast open sky. This of course aloud all the stars in the heavens to shine brightly so all who would look up to see them could see them with absolute clarity. With how the night sky was it felt as if you could just fall up into the heavens. The sight left the blonde speechless.

Turning his head to look at the girl. "Amazing isn't it?" Speaking softly.

"So clear." There had been many nights were Lucy would look up at the starry nights simply to look at them. Of all the times she had stared into those endless skies this had to be one of the clearest she had ever seen them. Every time she would stargaze she would immediately look for the constellations of her spirits always starting with the zodiacs (I don't know how many you can see at one time, but I'm going to guess 5). "Scorpio." Pointing at the noble spirits constellation.

"Sagittarius." Zeref pointed to the next closest zodiac.

"Capricorn." Knowing that that one in particular would protect her family no matter how many generations pass by.

"Aquarius."

"Pisces." Sounding sad when she called out its name.

Zeref noticed the change in her voice. "Is that one of the Zodiacs you don't own?"

"No!" Lifting up her pouch that contained her keys. "I actually posses all twelve Zodiac Spirits." Showing her date the twelve gold keys. "I even have the thirteenth Zodiac Ophiuchus." Now pointing out the Great Serpent's constellation out in between Scorpio and Sagittarius's constellations with its black key.

"One Celestial mage possessing all thirteen spirits of the Zodiac. I don't think I've ever heard of such a feat happening before."

"From what the Spirit King told me the only other time it happened was when they were first given to man."

"It must be a huge honor for someone as young as you to have completed the most powerful set of spirits."

"I don't view them as just spirits. To me they are like family." Sounding offended by the way he just talked about her spirits.

"Sorry I didn't mean to offend, but still what an honor it must be to have all thirteen."

Lucy let out a sigh. "It is I just wish I didn't get Libra, Pisces, and Ophiuchus the way I did." Again sadness returned to her voice.

"If you don't mind me asking how did you get the last three."

Lucy explained what happened during the final day of the Grand Magical Games and how she and Yukino were put up as sacrifices to open a portal to go back in time so Zeref and Acgnolgia could be destroyed. Yukino was put up first to the gate. When asked for her final word she begged Lucy to take care of her spirits. Tears in both girls eyes when the gate activated draining Yukino of all her magical energies, essentially killing her. Next Lucy was put up to the gate. Struggle as much as she could the guards simple overpowered her until they strapped her to the gate. Soon her magic was being drained just as Yukino before her, except she fell unconscious, and later woke up safe in Natsu's arms still alive. Later that day Lucy kept her word to make contracts with the fallen celestial mage's spirits, but not before telling them how they came to be in her possession.

In process of telling her story Lucy had begun to cry. "It easily could have been me that died that day instead of Yukino." The blonde sobbed.

Zeref reached over to gently touch her face. "But you are the one still alive _." 'Because I was the one who truly saved you before Natsu arrived._ ' Wiping away the tears on the girls left cheek. "Was that the first time someone close to you died in front of you?" Now wiping the tears away on the right side.

She only nodded her head as more tears fell. "The only other time someone else died before me was when my mother died when I was still young."

"I wish I could tell you it gets easier, but sadly it doesn't." The expression on his face now matched Lucy's minus the tears. "All we can do as survivors is to continue on and honor their memories. Though they want to know they were truly cared for. They wouldn't want us to live with that sorrow forever. They want us to continue on remembering the good time, and not about how it ended. Make the sacrifices they made mean something, and live on."

"Thank you Ceadra." Now wiping her own tears away taking in his advice. She looked away from the man's eyes to return the back to the sky. When she looked up she saw a shooting star streaking across the night sky.

"Lucy look a shooting star." Pointing out what she already saw. "Quick make a wish!"

Still looking at the shooting star she closed her eyes. ' _I wish…"_ Taking a deep breath.

"What'd you with for?"

Turning to look at her date she saw he was now laying down on his side using his hand to prop his head off the trains roof looking at her. "If I told you it wouldn't come true."

"Did it involve me?"

"Maybe." Moving so she too was now laying on her side looking at Ceadra. Only after doing this did Lucy realize the room once between them became only an inch. Now blushing realizing how close the two were laying next to each other under the clear starry night.

"Tell me!" Moving his head in a way that their lips where now barely separated after moving in closer. "If I do this." Pressing his warm lips against hers.

This act took Lucy by surprise. From some reason her survival instincts told her to push the man away. Instead she found herself kissing the man back. Just like when she had kissed him while getting their picture taken it just felt right to her. This act caused her heartbeat to pick up as her blushing face began to heat up. She felt a warm hand brushing her face before touching her ear and then down to her neck before feeling it gently pushing her down. Following the instruction she began to lay down on her back slowly as the man kissing her followed her down.

As much bliss the two were in being human they had to separate for air. Zeref now leaning over Lucy brushed away some hair that had fallen onto her face. Taking a couple quick breaths. "Will it help make your wish come true?"

Looking back up at the man who she shared her first kiss with while catching her own breath. "Maybe."

"Good!" He spoke soft. ' _Just according to plan_.' Starting to lean back down to kiss his date again.

Seeing him coming back down her heart raced once more. That was until the voice over the intercom spoke.

"Attention all passengers; we will be arriving in Magnolia in less than five minutes. We hope you enjoyed the ride if this is your stop."

The look of anticipation and excitement of Zeref and Lucy's faces quickly turned to disappointment. "I guess we need to get back to our compartment." Zeref spoke first pushing up off the blankets to stand up.

"I guess so." Getting ready to stand up herself before Ceadra reached down to help her stand back up. She happily took his hand. The two picked up the blankets and made there way back to their compartment. They sat down until the train came to a full stop before getting off the train.

"I'd better get you home." Extending his arm out bent at the elbow just like he had earlier that day.

"Yeah!" Sounding a bit disappointed that her time with Ceadra was drawing near its end. She then wrapped her arm around his as she led the way to her apartment. Before she knew it the two of them stood right in front of her door. "I had a really good time today, Ceadra." The smile she gave him showed she was telling the truth.

"As did I." Matching Lucy's with a grin. "Maybe we could do it again another time?"

"I'd like that." The two store at each other for almost a minute both expecting the other to initiate another kiss, but the moment didn't seem right like it had on the train underneath the stars. "I guess I should get your shirt." Turning to face the door while grabbing her house key.

"Yeah." Watching her walk into the apartment.

Walking into her dark bedroom searching her dresser top for Ceadra's shirt. "There it is." Picking up the black dress shirt. For some reason she kept thinking of everything the two had done over the last twenty-four hours. ' _Maybe we could do it again another time?_ ' ' _How_?' She thought. ' _He lives in another country. When will we meet again if we ever get another chance?_ '

Suddenly something grabbed a hold of her shoulder and spun her around. "Wha…" silenced by a warm set of lips pressed against hers. The act opened her eyes to see that the lips belonged to Ceadra. Breaking away from the kiss. "Ceadra…?" Again his lips pressed to hers. ' _What do I do?'_ Her mind and body going into panic mode.

**End Chapter 6.**

**Next Chapter.**

**Not Over Yet?**


	7. Not Over Yet?

Lucy stood there wide-eyed in panic mode as the man she had spent the whole day with had just followed her into her own home and forced himself on her. ' _What do I do?_ ' She asked herself several times while he continued to kiss her while wrapping his arms around her. All she knew was that she needed to do something to stop him before he could rape her.

Before she could react to his actions he separated his lips from hers, but kept his body to hers. "Tell me to stop and I will." Zeref said seductively. 

"What?" Asked the very confused Lucy.

"Tell me to stop and I will."

Now she was really confused. A moment ago she thought Ceadra was going to rape her. Now he was giving her the choice of continuing and when to call a stop. That thought eased her fear of being raped, but not her heartbeat continued to increase. ' _Should I let him continue?_ ' She did like the way he was making her feel _. 'Or should I tell him to go?_ ' After all he did just force himself onto her ' _If we do start again when should I…_ "

"Being silent isn't saying no." He said with a hint of danger in his voice. Slowly he leaned forward ready to claim her soft, lush lips.

' _What do I do? What do I do? What do I…_ " Lucy only had time put her hands on the man's chest when Ceadra's lips pressed against hers again. For a half a second she thought of pushing him off but just like when she kissed him when taking the photos, and again on the roof of the train it just felt right to her. Once she realized that again just like the train she started to relax before kissing him back.

Once he felt Lucy kissing back Zeref wrapped one arm around her waist brining their bodies closer than they already were. He then placed the other one on the back of her head deepening the kiss.

Lucy's body was being confused by these strange new sensations making her fell warmer, light headed, and something she couldn't begin to describe with words. These sensations kept growing as the passionate kissing went on. The only thing she knew for sure was that she wanted more of these new feeling. Slowly she hugged the man kissing her so no space existed between the two. Not knowing how this could get any better she felt his warm tongue licking her bottom lip. From her lack of experience she didn't know what to do as he continued to lick her lips. Finally she opened her mouth to let him in.

Once the blonde opened up he was quick to explore her warm mouth tasting of vanilla and strawberries. After the quick exploration was done he started to massage her tongue with his. Soon he felt her moaning into his mouth for what he was doing to her making him work even harder to make the blonde feel even better adding more passion to the heated kiss.

As much bliss the two were in they finally had to separate from a lack of oxygen. Both now panting heavily but kept their bodies close together. Staring at each other with passion and lust filled brown eyes.

After catching his breath Zeref returned to the kissing Lucy only this time he wasn't going to be satisfied just taking her lips. Slowly he started a trail of kisses starting with the lips, to her cheek, her ear, and then slowly down her neck.

At the feel of the kisses being showered down her neck continued to please her she leaned her head back allowing the man to do whatever he wanted to do to her "MMMMMNNNNNNN!" Letting out a long moan when he started sucking on her neck. She then felt him going back to kissing her down the neck until he met the collar of her shirt.

Zeref moved his hands to underneath Lucy's short sleeve button up shirt slowly peeling it off as his trail of kisses continued down to her collarbone and eventually her shoulder.

Feeling the shirt hanging on her arms she let go of the hug letting them hang down to let the shirt fall to the floor. With that out of they she put her hands on the mans firm chest searching for buttons to undress him.

Knowing what the girl was doing he went back to kissing her lips to make it easier for her to remove his shirt. Soon enough she had it unbuttoned and was on the floor just like hers. Only Zeref wasn't wearing a second shirt under his leaving his upper body exposed.

Seeing the mans bear chest got her excited. Sure she had seen it before as well as most of the men of fairy tails ripped bodies, but this time she wouldn't just be admiring it. No this time she'd enjoy it running her fingers over the mans toned upper body.

Following his partner's last move he placed his strong hands on her hips slowly making their way up to her pink tank top. Once he got to it he slid his fingers under the fabric continuing to work his hands up in a tickling manner. This action caused the girl to giggle into their kiss, which he used to slip his tongue back into her mouth tasting strawberries.

After a couple of seconds Lucy felt Ceadra's fingers reach her ample breasts. He switching his tickles to a message on her breasts. "MMMM!" Moaning from how his fingers were making her feel as she started to searching her dates mouth tasting like apples and earthy spices with her tongue now leading to a heated battle of dominance that she eventually gave in to.

Sliding his tongue out of her mouth he spoke to her even more seductively. "Lift your arms up." She did allowing him to get her tank top out of his way. Once it was out of the way he reached behind her to work on her bra quickly finding, and undoing the hooks.

Feeling the support of her bra disappear she lowered her hands to grab the front of her bra and let go allowing gravity to do the rest of the work. Next she felt Ceadra take a firm grip of her ass sending a chill up her spine, picking her up and quickly sitting her on her writing desk. "KYA!" She yelped at the action, but soon felt him hugging their bare chests together. She then felt the warmth of their bodies made making her heat up more than she ever had. "MMMMM!" Now feeling Ceadra messaging her left boob. Before she could get used to this new sensation she felt something warm and moist on her previously untouched boob. Looking down she saw and felt the man sucking on her right-hardened nipple causing her to moan again. Not wanting him to stop she wrapped her arms around his head pulling him in while arching her back. The only time she let go was so he could switch what he was doing to each of her boobs.

After he had finished playing with Lucy's chest he gave her a quick kiss on her lips before backing away from her. He grinned at her as she looked at him with lust filled eyes wondering what he would do next. The black-haired man unbuckled his belt and undid his pants so he could take them off leaving him standing before the blonde in his red boxers.

Not wanting to stop what they had started she wanted to feel what he would do to her next. Getting off of her writing desk she unzipped and unbuttoned her skirt so it could be slid down her long slender legs. Once off she jumped at the man wrapping her legs around him as he fell back onto her bed. Landing on top of him she started to kiss him all over with passion earning groans from him in the process.

With is right hand Zeref started to slid his fingers down her panties that already felt soaked to the touch. ' _Guess she's ready_.' Flipping her over so now he was the one on top. Giving her a few lust filled kisses before straitening himself up. "Mind if we skip the rest of the foreplay?"

Unsure of how far she really wanted to go Lucy was left in a confused state _. 'Do I really want to go all the way?_ ' Feeling her lower half heating up from his touch hovering over her crotch. ' _I don't want him to stop making me feel good._ ' Looking into his dark brown eyes the way he looked at her made her feel like he was 'The One'. Finally she nodded her head.

Getting permission he separated the legs wrapped around him before gently taking hold each side of the pink kitty panties she wore. Slowly he began to slide them down until he heard.

"Stop!" Lucy pleaded still confused on what she should do.

"What is it?" Zeref doing as he was told releasing his grip on her underwear.

"This is my first time." She admitted out loud. "My body says go, but my something keeps saying no."

He only smiled. "Lucy, what does your heart say?"

At that question she looked at her heart for the answer she was looking for. Quickly she found it preparing herself for what was about to happen "Okay, I'm ready." Relaxing her body as her soon to be lover went back to removing her panties.

After removing her final article of clothing. "You look so beautiful." Taking in the full view of the curvacios blonde laying before him with the moonlight shining on her. Standing up he removed he boxers so now both of them were naked.

Lucy looked nervously at the Ceadra's long erect member. "Wow!" She said. Next thing she knew her soon to be lover was back on top of her feeling his weight pressing on her bear skin. He then started kissing her from the neck all the way up to her lips. She felt him rubbing her pussy lips with his member. Feeling it's hard heat sliding over her lower lips feeling the pleasure of it and her clit being rubbed by his dick letting out a couple moans. After half a minute of this action he stopped kissing her moving his lips over her ear.

Lining up the head of his penis with her entrance. "Since this is your first time this is going to hurt for a while." Warning his partner of the incoming pain.

"Okay!" She said nervously. Feeling him pressing his way slowly inside of her inch by inch until he felt him stop at her hymen. Knowing the pain she was about to receive she wrapped her arms and legs around the man so his body could comfort her while she went through the pain.

Pulling back out of her a little bit. "3, 2, 1!" Knowing he couldn't make it hurt any less for her Zeref went to shove the rest of his penis inside Lucy when he broke her virginity.

"AGGHHHH!" Feeling the pain of her womanhood being broken. She squeezed the man as hard as she could with her limbs, even digging her nails into his back. She felt tears rolling down her face, as her now lover let her get used to his size before continuing as blood was joining her love juices coming out of her.

Looking at her face he could easily see the pain he caused her, but a necessary pain for what was about to happen. Reaching her face he wiped away her tears before gently kissing both sides waiting for the pain to fade away from her.

After what felt like an eternity of pain it finally faded. Opening her eye she looked at Ceadra. "You can move now."  At her command the man slowly started to move in and out of her.  Momentarily the pain came back when it finally started to turn to pleasure. Starting to finally feel good she let out a low moan telling her partner to speed up.

Doing as she signaled he began to pick us his pace. "Ahhh!" Zeref groaning from how the tightness of her hot wet core was making him feel thrusting in and out of her. "So tight!"

Letting go of her grasp around her lovers upper body letting him go so he had more space to work with. Feeling each of his thrusts going in and out of her as she arched her back and began to let her bodies instincts move with his rhythm increasing the euphoria both were feeling. "Ceadra!" She began to moan his name.

"Lucy!" He groaned back picking up the pace once again feeling the woman tightening herself around him bring his closer to his release.

"Harder!" Lucy also feeling her climax building. She used her long legs to pull him deeper into her with each thrust making her head jerk with each thrust.

"Lucy!"

"Ceadra!"

Both going as fast as their bodies would allow to be in rhythm with each other. With a few more thrusts both man and woman would reach their climax. Lucy reaching hers first tightened her lower half as much as she could feeling nothing but pleasure as she felt her lovers hot seed filled her up. Soon she began to see stars from her head spinning from how good she felt having her first orgasm. Both staring at the other catching their breath as thy stared at each other as only a lover could.

"That was amazing." Zeref was the first to catch his breath.

"Better than amazing." Lucy countered. Taking in a few more breaths. "Ceadra, I love you."

"I love you too, Lucy." Said the black wizard pulling himself out of her.

Feeling immensely tired from the acts they just committed the blonde rolled onto her side to fall asleep.

Lowering himself to her backside before wrapping one of his arms around her waist, and the other under her heaving chest pulling her into his hard hot sweaty chest.  Subconsciously he began to rub her abdomen.

"Stop!" She said tiredly pushing his hand away. "Don't jinx it." Those were Lucy's final words before falling asleep in her lover's arms

Now in The Black-Wizards arms rest the sleeping Celestial-Mage in all of her glory. "Just according to plan." Whispering so only he could hear. Smiling as he placed his hand back over her stomach. "Now phase three can begin." Casting a spell with the hand resting on her. Still smiling looking at his handiwork. "Soon." Rubbing the blonde's stomach. "Soon."

"Mmm!" Rolling over onto her stomach. The moon light coming through the window shown on the woman's body.

Seeing the same thing he saw only three months ago when he first saw her with the moon light beaming down on her. "I defiantly got the right girl." Seeing a pair of angelic wings only visible to him with the light of the moon. Gently stroking her long blonde hair out of her face. "This 'Demon' defiantly found an 'Angel'."

**End Chapter 7**

**Next chapter.**

**The Next Day?**


	8. The Morming After?

After the best day of her life Lucy began to wake up from her deep slumber. Upon waking up her entire lower body felt sore. ' _Worth it_.' She thought slowly opening her eyes in the dark room. She felt something holding onto her waist pulling her in. ' _Still asleep huh?'_ Turning to face her lover. She felt him steadily breathing as his bear chest pressed against hers. Deciding to wake him up in a bold way Lucy got on top of Ceadra before giving him a wake up kiss.

The sleeping man was a little slow, but eventually kissed Lucy back.

Feeling like rekindling what happened only hours ago she took the move he had used on her last night and licked his lower lip to get entrance to his mouth.

Without a seconds hesitation the man gave her the access she was looking for, and felt the soft tongue tasting of strawberries and vanilla passionately explore his mouth. Using his left hand he gently swept his fingers through her long flowing hair before resting it on the back of her head to deepen the kiss, while using the other hand he turned the two of them over so now he was the one on top of her.

Lucy allowed herself to get turned over letting the man have the same position he had previously had. Only something felt off. ' _When did he put his pants back on?_ ' Felling that his lower body was clothed when she was still naked. Upon realizing this she suddenly realized his mouth didn't taste like apples like it did last night either. No this time around this mouth tasted strongly of smoke. One thing she silently admitted to herself was that although last night was her first time it certainly wasn't Ceadra's first time with a woman. Something she could look past easily, especially when he used that experience on her. But now it felt like she was with someone who like her was inexperienced.

After connecting those three dotes together she finally came the realization that it wasn't Ceadra she was kissing, but someone else. "KYA!" Yelled Lucy punching the man she just kissed thinking it was Ceadra. The body crashed into the nearby wall. Grabbing at the sheets she covered herself up the best she could, reaching for her keys. "Who's there?" She asked frightened out of her mind. ' _What happened to Ceadra?_ '

"Owe!" The man rubbed the back of his head after getting punched and slammed into the wall.

Recognizing the voice. "Natsu?" The blonde asked _. 'Did I really just kiss Natsu? What happened to Ceadra?_ ' turning the bedside lamp on seeing it was indeed Natsu who she unknowingly had just tried to get intimate with.

"Who else would it be?" He answered groggily getting to his feet _. 'Just when I thought she had gotten used to sleeping with me._ '

"What happened to Ceadra?" Asked a highly confused blonde.

"Ceadra?" The dragon slayer began to think. "Oh the guy who won the date with you." ' _The reason I rode four fucking trains yesterday for._ ' Still feeling the effects of his motion sickness. "I don't know. When I got here last night you where the only one here. Why did you let him spend the night here?" Now jealous of the man getting invited to stay the night with his Lucy when he would have to sneak in each time he wanted to spend the night with his precious Nakama.

She couldn't believe it. The man she had given herself to left her in the middle of the night. Looking around the room hoping to find a note of some sort. "Natsu did you happen to see a note in here by chance when you got here?" Hoping that he had a reason for not being there with her now.

Shaking his head. "When I got here last night at two in the morning all I saw was you sleeping before I went to sleep next to you."

Now feeling violated. ' _He used me!_ ' She thought. Sure most girls would think Natsu had something to do with his disappearance, but Natsu is incapable of telling a lie so she knew she could trust what he said was true. Now starting to feel angry. ' _He used me!_ ' Feeling tears starting to fall down her face.

Not only seeing but also smelling the salty tears coming from Lucy Natsu did what he had always done and asked her what was wrong and made her cry. When she didn't respond to him he got closer. "What's wrong Lucy?"

' _He said he loved me._ ' Those being the final words he told her last night before falling asleep in each others arms. She then started to shake in both anger and confusion. Without paying it any attention she felt a pair of strong warm arms wrap around her trying to comfort her.

"It's okay…" He tried to comfort her for whatever was causing her this pain. That was the last thought going through his head before it went through the window after his best friend unexplainably punched him out her second floor window and into the bushes in front of the apartment. Sure the girl had hit him many times and had gotten straight back up from the blows, but with everything he had gone through the day prior the cold hard ground he landed on felt too comfortable for him to stay awake. Soon he drifted back to the world of dreams.

"How Dare He Use Me Like That!" She yelled after punching Natsu out the window. Quickly she stormed her way to the bathroom to clean whatever Ceadra had left on her last night. Scrubbing herself down vigorously till her skin turned red. Despite all her effort she remembered all to well what he done to her body last night. Knowing she was physically as clean as she could be she still felt dirty and pissed off after what she had woken up to. Once out of the shower she brushed her teeth until all she could taste was the minty toothpaste and the blood from how hard she was on her gums. When all the daily hygiene rituals done she got dressed(Year 792 getup.). Looking in the mirror Lucy saw the line her tears had made before wiping them away. "I'm not going to shed one more tear because of that asshole."

Still acting out of anger she decided to go to the guild to grab a solo mission as means to calm down. She just prayed knowing how fowl a mood she was in no one from the guild did anything to piss her off, or they would suffer her wrath. Sure that could be avoided just simply staying home, but there was no way she was going to do that. If she did that all she'd do would be thinking about everything that happened yesterday. No for her own good she needed to get out of town for a while.

After grabbing all the essentials she'd need for a mission she proceeded to kick her door open to see Erza standing out side with two bags full of clothing, makeup, accessories, and other things to help maker her look good for her up coming date with Jellal. "So…" The redhead began before the blonde uncharacteristically cut her off.

"I am in no mood today Erza." Said Lucy nearly yelling at her friend. Who then proceeded to walk right past her.

Erza stood in front of the now closed door of her friend's apartment in shock. Never before had anyone from Fairy Tail ever talked to her like that. And Lucy was the last person she would have ever expected to yell at her like that. "But my date with Jellal." Nervously grabbing for the blondes shoulder.

Turning to face the redhead. "Erza you are a big girl, surely you can handle getting yourself ready for your date with Jellal just fine." Going back to walking to the guild.

Just standing there watching her friend walk away. "She's right." She said after standing on the porch for a couple of minutes. "I can get myself ready just fine." Looking into one of the bags she carried seeing over thirty different types of makeup. In her other bag was four different dresses, six different pairs of shoes, and all the jewelry she owned. "I'm screwed." Not knowing which combination would make her look her best on the date with the man of her dreams.

"UGGHHH!" Groaned Natsu from the bushes unable to sleep on the ground anymore he woke up after violently getting punched him out of his best friend's house. "What is Lucy's problem?"

Hearing Natsu's words caught Erza's attention. "What did you do to Lucy?" Thinking he was the source of Lucy's strange behavior. Quickly requipping a sword she pointed at him.

Going into his usual defensive mode whenever she was mad at him, he answered. "I didn't do anything." Putting his hands up in a defensive manor.

Requiping herself into her Heavens' Wheel Armor. "I don't believe you." Fiercely staring at the dragon slayer.

Even though he knew what he was about to say would get him in more trouble with the armored-mage he also knew it would give him the best chance of escape. "Look someone giving away free strawberry cake!" Pointing behind the armored woman.

"Where?" Looking where the fire wizard was pointing to see an empty street. "The cake is a lie!" Now furious that she had been lied to about the cake she turned back to see Natsu running like a mad man away from her. "Come back here and face me like a man?" Now running after him.

"I'm not a man I'm a dragon." Running like his life depended on it. Well in this case it really did.

Normally the walk to Fairy Tail from her apartment was twenty minutes. In the rage like walk she made it in four. Wanting to just get a job and get out as quickly as possible she calmed herself enough to open the doors to the guild as quietly as possible without drawing anyone's attention. Any other guild this might have worked, but this is Fairy Tail we are talking about so.

"Good morning Lucy!" The entire guild greeted her.

' _What's so good about it?_ ' "Morning." She grumbled back not even attempting to smile back doing her best to make a B-Line to the request board. She was five feet away from the board thinking she'd be able to get the mission and leave with only having to talk to Mirajane to get it approved. To good to be true she was actually going to get out of the guild without displacing her anger on anyone in the guild, she started to look at the solo missions, until.

"Good morning Lu-Chan." The seemingly always-joyful Levy began to approach her best friend.

' _Please turn around Levy._ ' Ignoring the book worm scanning the board for a mission that would get her out of town for a solid three or four weeks.

After waiting a good ten seconds for a reply Levy repeat what she just said. "Good morning Lu-Chan." Still no response. Just then she saw the look on her face. She saw a dead serious look on the blonde's face.

Using her peripheral vision she knew she saw the look on her face. ' _Good now just walk away."_

Thinking she could lighten her mood up the solid script mage decided to ask her about her progress with the latest chapter in her book. "Lu-Chan have you…" Levy trying to ask her best friend about her novel. If only she had read the look on her friend's face better the bomb she had just set off wouldn't have needed to explode. Unfortunately this bomb's fuse was pretty much none existent so any hopes of preventing it from exploding in the middle of the guild just flew out the window. The last thing that Lucy wanted to happen.

"No Levy I don't have the next chapter done yet." She answered with the same voice as her face looked. "Do you know how hard it is to write a book, especially with you keep pestering me about a new chapter everyday? It takes time and a lot of hard work to write a good story. If you want my work to be any good you have to give me some time to actually write."

"Sorry Lu-Chan…" Levy never seeing Lucy act this way caught her off guard.

"Besides I already told you that you'd be the first person to read it when I'm done."

"I'm Sorry." Trying to calm her friend down.

"Then give me some time to actually work on it. Not that I ever get time to work on it anyway with how..." Now starting to go on a tangent.

"Hey Bunny-Girl back off of Levy." Gajeel warned Lucy stepping between the two girls to defend his crush. This caught the attention of half the guild.

"Oh look it's the guy who thought he could buy a date with Levy for dirt cheap." Mocking the man. This caught the other half so now everyone was staring at the trio. "Tell me did you only come in with 50,000 jewels because you are a cheap bastard, or was it because of her lack of development." Pointing out her Levy's schoolgirl like figure.

"Hey!"  Levy complained crossing her arms over her chest.

This made Gajeel blush with embarrassment. "No I…"

"If you really wanted to have Levy to yourself why did you wait till the auction night to finally make your move?"

"I-I-I." Gajeel stuttered not expecting the blonde to act this way.

"God does anyone in this guild have the courage to ask the person they like out, or not."

"I'm not a coward I just…"

"You know I hope the guy Levy goes out with sweeps her off her feet just so it teaches you not to act all broody, and actually make the first move next time instead of hoping a girl goes after you." Knowing all to well that neither Levy of Gajeel have showed their feeling for each other. Even when both knew the feeling for each other where there.

Both mages were stunned. Neither of them could find any words to speak as they watched the blonde going back to looking for a job on the board.

Having just watched Lucy's outburst like the rest of the guild Gray was the first to ask what her problem was because what he just saw surely wasn't the Lucy he had gotten to know over the past year. "Lucy what's the problem." Walking up behind his teammate placing his hand caringly on her shoulder. "Is…"

Looking back when she felt a cold hand on her shoulder she turned her head to see Gray standing behind her dressed only in his black boxers when he asked her what her problem was. Still in her rage did she do some strange throw she herself wasn't aware she could do. The end result was Lucy tossing Gray onto a hard wood tabletop. "Gray Put Some God Damn Clothes On."

"Uggggggghhhhhhhh!" He groaned in pain after getting the wind knocked out of him when he got thrown onto the table. He was actually wishing the table had broken to lessen the impact.

"You do know any girl not familiar with your stripping habits would be screaming rape right now." Lecturing the man struggling to get his bearings back. "Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is when we have to talk to a client and you're showing more off than I am?"

Juvia having enough of watching he love-rival being mean to her Gray-Sama, Juvia went to his aid. "Love-Rival leave Gray-Sam…" Before the water woman could even attempt to help her crush she found herself pressed against a support beam with her love-rival shooting daggers at her with her eyes.

"Juvia for the last time you and I are not love rivals. Gray is like an older brother to me, nothing more and nothing less." Not even blinking as she spoke harshly to the bluenette.

"Thank you?" Voice mixed with confusion and fear.

"To be honest with you though Juvia, Gray doesn't deserve a girl like you." Less venom in her voice now.

"What do you…"

"It's as clear as day how much you like him to everyone in the guild. Yet he always ignores you, brushing your feeling for him under the rug." Juvia tried to protest but was not aloud to by Lucy. "I've seen you following Gray since before you even joined Fairy Tail." Looking to the rest of the guild. "Who else has noticed?" Everyone rose their hand. "You see everyone except Grey is aware of your feelings for him."

Even though the man was still down he could hear everything his teammate said. ' _Have I really ignored her for so long. Man I'm such a jerk._ '

"But Gray won Juvia's bid." Said Juvia.

"Probably because someone else told him to, or because he saw you about to cry and didn't want the guild to get flooded again." Lucy said trying to get her point across.

' _Lucy's right_.' Realizing he did need to give Juvia a fair shot on their date. After all she has done to get him to notice her.

"Gray-Sama tell Love-Rival its not true." Looking at her crush who was still un-responsive. "Gray-Sama!" tears starting to fall down her pale cheeks' fearing what her love-rival had said was true.

"Juvia I say this as a friend who wants to see you happy so please listen to me." Speaking more calmly. "Gray is probably aware of your feeling for him yet he has ignored them all this time. You've been trying so hard to get him to like you yet you never get anything through to him. Juvia please, Gray doesn't deserve to have you. With all the effort you've put into him he should have been yours by now. Please move on. I don't want to see him hurt you anymore." With those final words to did she release her hold and walked over to the request board. Over at the request board. "Pick a job or get out of the way!" She yelled at Nab before tossing him into the nearby wall. After a minute of looking through all the jobs she found one she was looking for to get her out of town for a while. Now storming over to find Mira to get the job approved before anyone else gets in her way.

Currently unable to read the mood of the room after winning three straight drinking contests Cana decided to call over her former partner over for a drink. "Hey Lucy wanna have a drink with me." The drunken mage slurring her words.

"I DON'T DRINK."

The yelling hurt Cana's ears' severally from her inebriated state. "No yelling Lucy." Covering up her ears.

"Then stop getting hammered before noon." Pointing at the clock reading eleven O' clock. "Honestly I don't get the point of constantly drinking yourself to death. I mean what makes getting drunk so special when you do it all the time? I swear one of these days you're going to sober up to see you got pregnant from a drunken one night stand." Going back to getting Mira's approval for the job.

After hearing all of Lucy's harsh word Cana pushed the barrel of alcohol she was drinking away. She then placed her head down on the table to do some soul searching.

"Whew!" Whistled Laxus. "When did blondie grow a backbone." Like the rest of the guild never seeing her act this way. He had to admit though this version of Lucy was to his liking.

"I am not weak!" Getting up in the hulking man's face. "And my name is Lucy not Blondie!" Now everyone was looking at the girl worriedly for she had just gotten in Laxus's face. An act that in the past pretty much signed that person a death warrant.

"I didn't call you weak." Stunned that she was standing up to him.

"No but you were most likely thinking it."

"I've gotten over that since I was kicked out after the Fantasia incident." No longer caring about his guild mates strength, and now ready to defend them whenever they need help.

"Since you say you've gotten over it." Doing an air quote with her hands. "I have a question for you."

"Shot."

"Why not instead of weeding our the weak members of the guild to remake it in your image, why didn't you just train them to help make them stronger."

"UHHH!" To be honest with himself he never really thought of that idea. The only members he had helped get stronger were already strong to begin with _. 'Why didn't I train someone, or a couple other member._ ' Now thinking of the question Blondie, no Lucy had just asked him. Looking around the guild for someone to train. That was until Freed got between the two blondes.

"How dare you talk to Laxus like that." Staring fiercely at the celestial mage.

Looking past Freed and back to Laxus. "How do you manage to breathe with Freed hugging your nuts so tight?"

"Pahhh!" The guild collectively let out a gasp. Now they were positive Lucy had a death wish. They had seen what Freed did to people who spoken ill of Laxus behind his back and lets just say it isn't vary pretty.

"What did you just imply about me?" Drawing his sword out of its seethe.

"I don't know." Speaking in a joking manor before going back to being pissed off. "I think I just called you gay for Laxus."

"I'm not gay for Laxus." Keeping his ferocity. "Or any man for that fact."

"Oh yeah! Then why did you hug him like you'd never see him again on Tenrou?"

He couldn't deny it when everyone there that day say him do it. "I just really care for Laxus." Seeing the girl about to open her mouth again. "I am not gay."

"Prove it."

Rummaging through his pockets he pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Lucy. Watching her read the paper he saw her give him a look saying sorry before handing it back.

"Hopefully you show her the same passion you do for Laxus and I'm sure you'll have her for sure." Walking away from the greenette heading to the bar.

"What's that piece of paper say?" Laxus asked pointing at the paper in Freed's hand.

Blushing before he spoke. "It's the agreement signed by the girls in the auction that they will go out with you, or you get your money back."

"Who'd you win?" Not seeing him bid for anyone before him and Gildarts came back into the guild to watch the rest of the auction. Before Freed answered him he made a guess. "Mira?" Remembering hearing about the crush he had for the barmaid from someone else.

"Levy." Freed answered still blushing.

"WHAT!" Roared Gajeel. "It was someone else who won Levy's bid." Not fully remembering what the guy looked like, but he knew it wasn't Freed. Looking at Levy. "Tell me it's not true."

Levy looked away from the dragon slayer blushing. Silently admitting it was Freed who she would be going out on a date with in a few days time.

Gajeel now standing in front of Freed. Both men just stared at each other waiting for the other to throw the first punch.

After biting off nearly ten of her Nakama's heads off Lucy finally made it to Mira with the job flier in hand.

Mira who had seen everything unwind was beyond convinced something was indeed troubling the stellar mage. After all she saw the younger mage as a little sister even after her real sister came back from Edolas. Of course with it being Mira she believed any problem could be fixed with love. She also remembered that she was going to hook her up with Natsu once her date with the black haired stranger was over, but first she needed to know that it was over with that man first. After all it could have been love at first site from the way she looked when they talked about their future dates. After thinking of the love loop she had somehow forgotten about Lucy's bad mood. "So Lucy how did your date go yesterday?" Asking all to cheerfully with her eyes closed.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Not seeing the sour look on her face or paying attention to the sound of her voice totally miss-read the situation. "So it didn't go to well last night did it?"

"Not for me." ' _Fucking Asshole_.'

' _Good! That mean I can hook Lucy up with Natsu_.' Inner Mira squealed _. 'Pink-haired babies with big brown eyes_.' "Maybe you could give someone else…"

"Mira I don't need your love advice right now." Showing the flier to the barmaid. "What I need you to do it approve this job for me."

"Only if you agree to go out…"

"MIRA STOP IT! Love advice is the last thing I need right now." Willing the tears she'd been holding back to stay put.

"I just don't want to see you alone." Mira expressing her concern for the younger mage's love life.

"Why don't you just focus on your own non-existent love life." Lucy countered coldly.

"What!?" Getting slapped hard by the last comment.

At this point the guild members who hadn't fallen victim to the blondebegan to wonder who was going to be dumb enough to talk to her, and how it will end for that person. So seeing Mira now being the one to get slammed wasn't so much a shock anymore.

"You are so focused on other peoples love lives that you neglect your own. I mean I don't think I've ever seen you with a boyfriend the entire time I've known you."

This made the Take-Over mage realize she hasn't had a boyfriend in a long time. Still those words stung enough to make her cry. "I just want everyone to be happy." She sobbed.

"Have you ever considered maybe letting someone handle their own problems.'' This time Lucy spoke to everyone in the guild, as she knew she had been the center of attention since snapping at Levy.

"But we're a guild we help each other with their problems."

"Sometimes people have a problem they want or need to handle by themselves. At least until they are comfortable enough to share said problem." Taking in a deep breath. "I just wanted to come in grab a job and get out of here. Instead I ended up ripping nearly everyone in the guild."

Over at the entrance Mira's younger sister Lisanna entered the guild. "Good morning everyone." When no one replied to her greeting she took in her surroundings to see everyone with a hurt look on his or her face. In the center of the see of hurt stood Lucy.

Seeing that Lisanna had entered the guildhall. ' _Might as well get everything off my chest since I've come this far._ ' "You!" Pointing her rage now at Lisanna.

"Me? What did I do?" Asked the now worried Lisanna completely unaware of what just happened over the last six minutes.

"Ever since you've come back I keep getting ignored to death and/or kicked out of the guild."

"What?" She asked confused as her question went unanswered.

"Whenever I get ignored half of those times I end up getting pregnant with Natsu's child, but because of how clingy he is to you I end up leaving so the two of you can be together. Only when I come back years later to find out that I was the one Natsu loved all along." Sometime during this rant she began to cry. "Or I end up falling for someone else in this guild to ease the pain of losing my first love."

"Eh, Lucy." Trying to stop the rambling celestial mage, but couldn't speak loud enough to get her to stop.

"Whenever I get kicked out of the guild it all starts with my team kicking me off the team deeming me to weak telling me I was only a replacement for you while you take MY spot on the team. Through all of these times I've ended up falling in love with just about every from a different guild after joining it. Most recently it has been either Sting or Rogue. Again Natsu realizes he liked me all along, but this time its too late as I've already found someone else but he can never accept the fact I found a way to move on past him."

"Lucy!" Raising her voice.

"I'm sick of you always ruining my life." Face now drenched in tears.

While the blonde was forced to take a breath the silverette took the opportunity to place a hand on each of the other girls shoulders so she could look her in the eye once she spoke. "Lucy its okay. You are not, nor will you ever be anybody's replacement. The people you are talking about would never be aloud to stay in Fairy Tail if all they were concerned about was strength. Everyone here is each others Nakama and Nakama don't forget about each other, or let one of their own go through that kind of pain alone." Pulling the other girl into a hug to let her cry on her shoulder for a few moments before she spoke.

"Really?" Sobbing.

Patting her on the back. "Really!" Pushing her away to look her in the eyes again. "Now where did you get these crazy ideas from?"

"Ever since you've come back I've had these nightmares every couple of days." Lucy did a hick-up from her crying every few words. "They always feel so real. Sometimes I don't know if I'm awake until everyone tells me good morning when I enter the guild."

Pulling her back into the hug. "Its okay Lucy. That's all those all are nightmares that will never come true."

"Promise." Wiping away her tears.

"If for some reason it does happen I'll quit the guild myself." Lisanna reassured Lucy's fears.

"Thank you so much for this Lisanna." Feeling a weight that had been on her shoulders for months finally being lifted.

"No problem Lucy." Easing the two of them out of the hug. After hearing the blonde's fears she knew something else had triggered her actions at the guild today. After fixing the first problem she figured she might as well figure out what her true problem is. "Now why don't we just sit down and talk about what your real problem is?" Walking the two of them over towards a nearby table before sitting down.

"Okay." Lucy now somewhat cooled down sat opposite of the youngest Strauss sibling. Taking a deep breath before talking. "Well you see Lisanna…"

"I just took the manliest shit!" Boosted Elfman stepping out of the bathroom. When he looked around to see what was going one he saw that everyone was shooting him signal to shut up.

"Tell me your problem." Lisanna trying to get Lucy to ignore what her big brother just said, but it was too late.

Lucy immediately got out of her seat and found herself right in front of Elfman. "Manly, Manly, Manly!" Poking the muscular man in the chest each time. Elfman tried to defend himself but like most of his guild mates feel victim to the celestial mage's fury. "I swear the entire year I've known you I haven't heard you say one thing without using the word manly. I'm probably not the only one here to think it but I damn sure will be the first to say it out loud." She was wrong about Freed, but with Elfman she was 100% positive she was right. "You use the word manly so much I swear you're Gay."

Elfman was stunned by what he was just called. "What? I'm not Gay! I'm the Ma…"

"Manliest man in Fairy Tail. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! Well tell me manliest of the men how many women have you slept with."

"A real man never kisses and tell." Getting his manly composure back.

"So in other words you're still a virgin."

That statement cracked his mental barrier breaking away the confidence on his face away.

By the look on his face she knew what she said was true. "Tell me have you even kissed a girl?"

Somewhat being pulled out of her soul searching Cana pulled out a note pad with all the bets she was keeping tabs on.

Mira seeing this asked her what she was doing.

"What can I say Elfman being gay is one of my top bets still in here."

"I've kissed plenty of girls." Elfman still on defense.

"Hey leave Elfman alone." Evergreen coming in to defend her man.

"Tell me Evergreen has Elfman even kissed you?" Lucy now having both of them in sight now.

"We haven't found the right moment yet." She admitted with a heavy blush.

"Because he's gay!"

"I am not gay!" Yelled Elfman.

"Prove it!"

"What?" 

"Prove you're not gay and kiss Evergreen."

"A real man doesn't just kiss someone just because they are told to."

"Kiss her or admit you're gay. Its not healthy to be in denial."

"Come on Elfman just kiss her." Random members of the guild started to howler at him.

"A real man wouldn't have a problem kissing a girl."

"Be a man!"

"Kiss her!"

"You can do it!"

Caving into the peer pressure. "Fine I'll kiss Evergreen just like a real man." Yelled Elfman placing his hands behind the brunette's neckpulling her in. "I know this isn't the moment we were looking for."

"It's Okay." Evergreen wrapping her arms around the mans giant chest. Their lips drawing closer together. You could just tell the guild was about to go all 'Awe' in the mater of seconds.

Elfman stopped centimeters from Evergreens lips nervous about kissing the woman. ' _You can do this Elfman, you're a man_.' The more he tried to make himself kiss the girl the harder he found it to be. Finally he pulled away from her.

"Elfman?" Confused that her man was backing away from her crying.

"Only a real man cries!" Running out of the guild crying manly tears.

Everyone in the guild with shocked faces, well except for Evergreen who was now in tears as the man she thought was her boyfriend turned out to be gay.

"Oh my god he was gay." Half the guild then proceeded to take their winnings from the bet on whether Elfman was straight or not.

Lucy looked at the flier still in her hands. Quickly she scanned the guild for Mira. Once spotted she walked up to her. "Can you just approve this job for me already?"

"Okay." Quickly stamping the flier not even bothering to see which job it was.

"Thank you." Were Lucy's final words before making her way to the train station. Only one thought went through her head on that walk. ' _Hopefully I didn't hurt my Nakama to bad_.' Now beginning to regret everything she had said and done since she woke up on what could easily be called the worst day of her life. Somehow time had flown to the point she found herself sitting in an empty compartment of the moving train.

This made her think of what she called the best day of her life. Thinking of the time she had enjoyed spending with Ceadra. The man she had told everything about herself to. The man she trusted more than she had trusted anyone else without her life being on the line. The man she not only fully opened herself up to, but the man she had given her body to less than twelve hours ago. "Why?" Asking for an answer she may never get from the man she had declared her love for. "Why did you leave me like that?" With no one around she finally let out all her pent up sadness and tears. Hugging her legs to her chest she buried her face into her legs. "Why did you leave after telling me you loved me?" Remembering all to clearly the sincerity in his eyes when he declared his love for her. "Why?" continuing to sob, and cry for the rest of the train ride.

**End chapter 8.**

**Next Chapter.**

**Aftermath?**


	9. Aftermath?

In the Fairy Tail Guildhall all the members currently in there surrounded the unconscious Natsu who was bound to a chair.

"You sure he set Lucy off, or knows what's wrong with her?" Asked Mira.

"After she told me to take care of my looks myself I saw Natsu jump out of the bushes in front of Lucy's place asking 'What is Lucy's problem?'" Said Erza.

She nodded her head agreeing that the pinkette probably did know something about the blondes' erratic behavior. "Did you really have to knock him out?" She sweat dropped.

"He knocked himself out running into a brick wall trying to run from me." The guild laughed at what Erza said which just so happened to wake the dragon slayer up.

"Ugh!" He groaned once he woke up. Upon waking up Natsu tried to stretch but soon felt himself bound to he chair he had been sleeping on. "What's going on here?" Trying to break the ropes.

"Don't bother." Said Erza. "I had Freed fire proof those ropes so you can't escape."

"Huh?" Not getting what's going on. "Why am I being tied down?"

"We have some questions for you."

"I swear I didn't burn it this time?" Going defensive.

"Burn what?" raising an eyebrow. "And what do you mean this time?" Curious to what got burned.

"Erza!" Mira reminding Erza of her interrogation. "Lucy."

"Right! What did you do to Lucy?"

"Is something wrong with Lucy? Where is she?" Natsu looked around to find the blonde.

"She went on a solo mission after insulting half the guild." Mira gave details, but kept it to a minimum as plenty of the members who got blasted by the blonde were still sore about the whole thing including herself.

"I didn't do anything to her." Looking down at the ground remembering his interactions with the blonde that morning. "She woke me up by kissing me…"

**THUMP**! That was the sound made when Mira hit the ground after passing out from what Natsu said. Half guild members surrounded her to see if she was okay only to see a happy look on the woman's face before she muttered. "Pink-haired babies with big brown eyes." She was then moved to the infirmary.

After a few more moments Erza got back to interrogating Natsu. "So you say Lucy kissed you?" Shrugging off Mira fainting moments earlier.

"That's how I woke up this morning." Taking a breath while he recalled what started off as a great morning for him. "She rolled on top of me kissing me awake. She even put her tongue in my mouth. I started to kiss her back. After a while I rolled her over so I was on top."

"I don't need to hear this!" Claimed Wendy rushing out of the guild to keep her virgin ears intact.

"A couple of seconds later she punched me and started to freak out asking about…I think the name was Ceadra."

"Why would she be asking for Ceadra?" Erza remembering Lucy telling her, her dates name.

"I don't know, but apparently she let him spend the night with her." All the girls except Erza let out a gasp. "I told her he was gone before I snuck into her bed. Which he was." Still defensive not wanting to piss the redhead off any further. "After I told her that she started looking depressed. I tried to see what was wrong but she punched me out the window onto the streets."

"That's all?" Erza asked.

"No. For some reason she wasn't wearing anything." Letting out a small blush as he had got a quick glimpse of Lucy naked before she covered herself up. "And for some reason I smelt like blood."

"I think I know what set Lucy off." Lisanna said whispering what she thought the problem was in Erza's ear. The redhead nodded her head in agreement knowing she'd do the same if that happened to her. Well maybe not the exact same, as there would have be more violence.

Natsu found himself anxious wanting to know what Lisanna's idea was about what was bothering Lucy. "What is it?"

Both Erza and Lisanna knowing Lucy's problem, and also knowing about Natsu's feelings for the girl. Neither wanted to tell him in fear of how he might take it.

"Please tell me." This time begging for the answer. "If something is bothering Lucy I want to know so I can help her."

"Bunny-Girl slept with her date last night." Said Gajeel ending the suspense. Both girls gave the Iron Dragon Slayer harsh looks, but he didn't care. "And from the way she acted it sounds like he slipped out of her bed while she was still asleep."

"You mean?" Natsu began not wanting to believe what he heard was real.

"Bunny-Girl got used last night." He said bluntly. Right then everyone understood why the celestial mage was in such a horrible mood earlier that day. Looking at his fellow dragon slayer he saw a look of depression on his normally goofy face. _'I know how you feel. Someone took your mate before you could make a claim._ ' Looking behind he saw Freed saying something to Levy making her smile. ' _I may have the same problem soon too._ '

* * *

**Six weeks later**

Lucy was riding the train back home to Magnolia after completing the solo mission she had taken. Normally it was a mission she wouldn't have taken or even selected herself. The job was taking down a group of bandits in the far away town of Saren. The job flier neglected to say that the bandits were mages or their numbers, but that didn't bother Lucy as that gave her a much needed outlet for her frustrations. As a matter of fact once the fighting was done she actually felt sorry for the bandits after seeing what she did to them. Loke and Capricorn ended up doing the bulk of the work until the leader came out. He was a highly skilled shadow mage who managed to take out four Zodiacs before she was forced to pull out the big gun, Ophiuchus. It was the first time summoning the great serpent since signing the contract with him. Its power was to overwhelming for the boss to handle, and any of his underlings who were still capable of putting up a fight gave up in sheer terror of the frightening spirit.

"You okay Lucy?" Loke asked who was sitting across from his master in a private compartment.

"Except for still feeling drained of magic, and fatigued I feel just fine."

"Fighting a couple dozen bandits by yourself will do that to you. Especially when we spirits can drain your magic pretty quickly depending on…" Loke started to lecture.

"It wasn't Capricorn, Taurus, Libra, or you that drained me so much." Cutting her spirit off. "Ophiuchus! When I summoned him it felt like I had all four of you Zodiacs out at the same time."

"He's not the called the most powerful Zodiac for nothing. I'm just surprised you ended up in a situation were you had to summon him."

"That last bandit was giving you and Capricorn a lot of trouble."

"Still why wasn't Natsu, Erza, or Gray with you?" Loke could sense his master was under a lot of stress before taking he mission. He wanted to come out sooner to comfort her, but just like he could sense her stress he could also tell she wanted to be left alone too. He just wanted to know what the source of it was. "I mean it's not really like you to take a solo mission to begin with."

Lucy lowered her head so her bangs masked her face. "I just needed to get out of town and away from everyone for a while." Leaving it at that.

Looking out the window Loke saw Magnolia in sight. "There's home!" Pointing out the town. "Do you want me to walk you home or to the guild when you get off?" Not wanting his mistress to waste money on a ticket for him he told her to summon him once she found an empty compartment on the train.

"No thanks!" Politely declined the spirit's offer. "I have some things to take care of at the guild, and I'd rather you not know about it yet." ' _Or ever_.'

"I understand." Standing up to give her a small bow. "I'll see you soon Princess." He said before going back home to the spirit world.

"Thanks Loke." Knowing the spirit couldn't hear her. Looking at the town quickly spotting Fairy Tail. "I'm not looking forward to this." Knowing she had a lot of explaining and apologizing to do once she got there. "It's going to be a rough day."

**Thirty minutes later.**

Standig outside the guild doors simply staring at them. ' _You're going to have to face them eventually._ ' Continuing to look at the door with pure dread. She started to think of what she did to who six weeks ago.

Natsu: I punched him twice when he didn't deserve it. Erza: I possibly hurt her confidence for her date with Jellal. Levy: I told her to be patient with in all honesty I needed to do a while ago, if only my tone had been in a more friendly. Gajeel: I pretty much called him a chicken hoping Freed would win Levy over. Laxus: thinking about it I'm surprised he didn't hurt me, but compared to everyone else he got off easy. Freed: accused him of being gay and was wrong, but I did tell him good luck with Levy. Gray and Juvia: I think I ruined any chance of those two hooking up. Cana: she got flat out blasted. Mira, I yelled at her when she didn't deserve it after all she was just looking out for me. Lisanna: helped end months worth of nightmares for me so I need to thank her since she nearly had me calmed down. Elfman: called him out for being gay and was right. Evergreen: poor Evergreen.

Letting out a huge sigh. "Here goes nothing." Finally pushing the doors open seeing only Juvia, Levy, Lisanna, Wendy, Erza, Cana, and Mira siting at the bar with no one else in the guild besides those at the bar. Lucy managed to sneak up to the bar before they took notice to her.

"Good morning Lucy." They all said in unison.

Giving all of them a deep bow, and speaking with her most apologetic voice. "I'm so sorry for what I did and said six weeks ago."

Lisanna was the first to approach the blonde. "Its okay we understand what you went through." Sounding sympathetic.

"It didn't give me the right to be so mean to everyone." Lisanna's words just then registered in her mind. "What do you mean you know? Know about what?" Hoping they weren't talking about him and what he did.

Erza somehow snuck up on her placing a comforting hand on the stellar mage's shoulder. "After you told me I could handle my date with Jellal just fine I heard Natsu saying 'What's her problem'." She said. "After hearing that I thought he was the source behind your odd behavior."

"I'm so sorry Erza. I swear…"

"He tried to run, but I eventually caught him. He told us all we needed to know."

"All you needed to know?" Lucy repeated. ' _Great they know_.' Now beginning to relive the grief she felt that morning.

"We know you slept with him." Cana said without a single slur in her speech.

"I did!" She admitted urging her tears to stay put.

"And from what Natsu told us we also know he walked out on you when you were still asleep."

The tears broke free. "I'm so sorry." Falling to her knees. "I should have never let my frustrations out on everyone."

"We understand Lu-Chan." Levy knelt down to hug her best friend. "No one should ever have to have felt the way you did that morning."

"That didn't give me the right to do what I did."

The rest of the girls began to hug the crying mage until they were all in a group hug. Over the next fifteen minutes Lucy continued sob her apologies while the rest of them assured her they understood and forgive her. After the apologies were done Mira insisted the blonde let out everything out, which she did. After all the crying and comforting she finally said 'Thank you.' To her Nakama for helping her deal with Ceadra's massive betrayal of her heart/trust. After everything was let out the barmaid insisted that they change the mood quickly fixing every girl their drink of choice before the gossiping began.

"So how did your dates go?" Lucy asked the other girls now smiling and laughing with them as they talked. "I don't know if it could top mine, but it must have ended better than mine."

Levy was the first to answer. "Freed-Kun and me really hit it off on our date." She was blushing just thinking about it. "We've even gone on three more dates since the first one."

"Congratulations Levy-Chan." Turning to Juvia. "How's about you and Gray." She asked nervously as out of all the girls it had to be a close call between Juvia and Mira for who she scolded the worst.

"Thanks to Lucy-Sama Juvia realized that Gray really didn't deserve Juvia." The Water-Woman said proudly. "But now Gray won't leave Juvia alone." She hugged herself. "Juvia has noticed Gray following Juvia. It's creeping Juvia out." All the girls laughed at the ironic reversal between the water and ice mage. "What's so funny?"

"Oh it's nothing." Said Cana handing Juvia a mango smoothie, as she was giving Mira a hand making drinks. "Just drink this and enjoy yourself."

"Thank you Cana-Sama." Taking a sip of her tropical drink.

Lucy then noticed something. "You're not drinking Cana?" Seeing the brunette drinks something alcohol free for the first time since meeting her.

Cana shrugged her shoulders. "After what you told me I did some soul searching, and am starting to lessen the amount of alcohol I drink." Looking at the clock she saw it was now three in the afternoon. "Like no more drinking before three." Proceeding to put a small shot of vodka in her strawberry smoothie.

"Good for you." Giving her former partner a thumbs up. ' _Who knows I might have saved Cana's life yelling at her._ ' "How'd your date with Laxus go?"

"He drank way too much, and I had to carry him home." Raising one finger up. "Completely sober myself might I add." She said proudly. "He probably thought if he got me drunk enough he could get me in bed. Long story short I kneed Laxus in the balls"

Not knowing how to respond to what the card mage just said she turned her attention to the younger Strauss sister. "Bickslow won your bid right Lisanna?"

"Yup!" No enthusiasm in Lisanna's voice.

"Didn't go to well I'm guessing."

"It turns out Elf-Nii coming out of the closet encouraged Bickslow to come out as well." Both Strauss sisters had a look of unease which made everyone feel a little uneasy. "At least Nii-Chan found someone."

"How'd Evergreen take the whole Elfman being gay thing?"

Mira looked at her with sad eyes. "She quit the guild saying she was going to join Mermaid Heel." Before Lucy could say she was sorry Mira cut her off saying. "It was her choice and there was nothing we could do to stop her. It would have happened eventually, all you did was speed up the process."

Looking around she could see the depression coming back into the room so she decided to change the subject to lighten the mood. "How'd your date go with Jell…" Stopping mid-word after turning to see Erza had downed eight shot by herself and had a drunken blush on her face. "al?"

Erza didn't respond. Instead she downed her ninth shot of hard liquor.

Mira pulled Lucy in to tell her about the date. "It turns out Jellal and Ultear had a slip up one night and got pregnant." Mira was showing sympathy for her former rival. "Turns out Ultear is currently three and a half months along.

Lucy couldn't believe it. She'd seen how mad both Erza and Jellal were for each other. She couldn't believe he would cheat on her like that. "No way."

"I wish I was joking." Pointing at the redhead. "She's been like that since she's come back. Unfortunately it gets worse for Erza."

"How can it get worse for Erza?"

"Not only did he tell her during the date, he also said it might be best if they didn't see each other again." The silverette covered the other woman's mouth to prevent any more questions. "Before he could leave though Erza asked how him and Ultear were going to handle their situation. When he didn't answer she insisted that they join Fairy Tail to give the baby a fair change at a normal life. Four days later they came back from Hargeon to explain the situation to Master. Makarov agreed to let them join with Jellal taking over as Mystogan, and Ultear to create a female counterpart after the baby is born." Taking a breath. "So now she has to see her first love, and the woman he slept with everyday she comes into the guild."

Lucy looked at Erza. ' _She handled that situation a lot better than I would have. Although I think its going to be a while until she gets over Jellal._ ' Watching the red head down her tenth shot ' _Poor Erza. She waited so long for Jellal only for him to cheat on her.'_

"Its almost a good thing you weren't able to help her, otherwise her hopes would have been to high before being sent crashing down." Mira let out a sigh.

Looking around again to find a way to lighten the mood again she saw Wendy the only girl there who wasn't up for auction. "So how have you been doing Wendy?"

"Well…" The Sky Dragon Slayer took a couple of sniffs. "I'm not here!" Panicking she quickly jumping behind the bar counter.

All the girls were puzzled by Wendy's actions. Before they could question her someone had opened the door. Looking at the door they saw Laxus standing there. "Have any of you seen Wendy around here?"

Wendy waved up to Mira signaling she's not here. "I haven't seen her all day." The barmaid lied.

"If you do tell her I'm looking for her." And at that Laxus left the guild.

After waiting a couple of minutes Wendy let out a huge sigh of relief before taking her seat back.

"What was that about Wendy-Chan?" Asked Levy.

The poor little girl had a look of horror on her face. "Six weeks ago Laxus picked me up and said he was going to train me to become stronger.

' _Why not instead of weeding our the weak members of the guild to remake it in your image, why didn't you just train them to help make them stronger_.' Lucy remembered what she had said to Laxus. "I am so sorry…"

"Got ya!" Said Laxus who managed to sneak his way back in before picking Wendy up by the back of her yellow and blue stripped dress.

"Save Me!" The little girl begged, but none of them could help the younger girl as Laxus had already left the guild before any of the other girls could even respond.

"I guess that's why Wendy has looked so worn out the last month." Levy said sweat dropping.

"I don't think I helped her situation." Both Cana and Lucy said at the same time. They both looked at each other and agreed not to dwell on the subject.

"JELLAL WHY DID YOU CHEAT ON ME?" Erza yelled before passing out from her twelfth shot of hard liquor. This made all the other girls jump.

"I think we better take her home." Said Cana looking at both Juvia and Levy. After all the four girls do all live at Fairy Hills.

"Juvia will help Cana-Sama carry Erza-Sama home." Juvia said helping Cana lift up the unconscious armored-mage.

"I don't know how much help I'll be." Said Levy opening the door for the other girls.

Mira looked at all the dirty glasses on the bar counter. Smiling she looked at her sister. "Lisanna could you please start cleaning these for me so I have clean glasses for when the guys come in?"

"Sure thing Nee-San." Said Lisanna loading a serving tray with all the glasses before walking back into the kitchen area.

"Why weren't the guys here?" Lucy finally asked the question.

"I thought it would be easier to get you over what happened if it was just us girls here when you got back." Mira was still smiling.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Just don't let what happened to you let it ruin you for someone else."

"I won't." She said quietly looking at the ground.

"Good so why don't you give…" Attempting to play matchmaker.

"Mira, please." This time politely cutting off the resident matchmaker. "Like I said I'll try not letting what happened to me happen again, but I still need more time to get over it."

"Just don't take too much time. After all you don't want mister right passing you by without realizing it."

"Thank you for everything today." Smiling at the silverette.

"No problem." Returning the smile.

Standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow." Walking out the guild and on her way home. ' _Thank you girls for understanding. I just hope all the guys are as understanding when I apologize to them tomorrow_.' Balancing herself as she walked on the waters edge on her way home.

"Good to see you again Lucy." Said a fisherman on his boat. "And be careful not to fall in."

"Thanks." Waving at the man before turning to face her apartment. "Home sweet home." After entering her home she made herself a quick dinner, had a shower, changed into her PJS, and decided to call it an early night even though she wanted to write a letter to her deceased parents the call of sleep however was to great for her to overcome.

However she saw one major problem with her bed. It still had the same pink comforter and sheets it did when she had sex with Ceadra. "I better put some new beddings on before going to sleep." Switching out all the blankets and pillow covers throwing the previous ones in the trash so she could forget about the memories forever tied with those pink sheets.

* * *

**The next day.**

Lucy woke up with a sense of relief that her female Nakama understood why she was in such a bad mood that day. She did still need to make things up to the guys who had yet to be apologized to. "Guess it's the guys turn…" She tried to say, but whatever she had last night wasn't agreeing with her stomach. Willing it to stay down she rushed to the bathroom to empty her stomach into the toilet. Wiping the bile from her lips. "I hope I didn't catch something." Quickly she went to clean the foul taste out of her mouth by brushing her teeth.

**End Chapter 9**

**Next chapter**

**Under the Weather**?


	10. Under the Weather?

_Dear Mama, and Papa._

_I've woken up the past six days rushing to the bathroom to throw up. Over those six days I've stayed at home not wanting to get anyone else sick. Part of me wants to deny the truth and say its just some stomach bug that I caught on my last mission. Sadly as much as I wish it were something as simple a bug I caught I fear its something a lot more serious._

(Looking at a small rectangular box with the words 'pregnancy test' written on it sitting next to her desk lamp.)

_I think it maybe your first grandchild._

(Letting out a huge sigh looking at the box again.)

_Mama I really wish I had you right now to talk to. I know I need to take this test, but I'm afraid I already know what it's going to say. My worst fear may become a reality in a few minutes. No it's not being pregnant, but being pregnant without the father being here to help support it._

_One of the things I promised myself when I ran away from home was when I did start a family was to do everything in my power to make sure any children I had would have both its loving parents growing up. But with how that Ass-Hole left me that may not be a possibility._

_Sending you my love_

_Your daughter_

_Lucy Ashley_

Lucy finished writing the day's letter to her deceased parents folding it neatly into an envelope before sealing it shut. Next she picked up the small rectangular box hands shaking. "I can't really put this off." Groaning at the thought of what it would tell her in a few minutes.

"What's up Lucy?" Asked a male voice entering through the girls' bedroom window.

"Use the door for once." She yelled at him. When she saw the pinkette she noticed that he had covered his face up. "I'm sorry Natsu. I just wasn't expecting to see anyone today."

Putting his hands down. "It's been a while since I've seen you so I thought I'd come check on you. The whole guild has been worried about you the past couple days." Taking a couple sniffs. "It smells funny in here." Looking around the room he saw Lucy holding a box in her hands. "What's that?" Pointing at the box his best friend was holding.

Lucy then realized she was still holding the pregnancy test. Quickly she set it down on her desk next to a glass of water. "Its medicine." She lied. "I haven't been feeling to well since I came back from that solo mission."

"So…"

"What have you been up to the last couple weeks?" Trying to change the subject.

"I've been taking a bunch of solo missions." In reality he was using those missions to cope with his best friend/crush sleeping with another guy. The best solution he could come up with was to beat the crap out of whomever the missions he took told him to. Personally he still needed some more time to think about the situation, but Mira insisted he come over to check on her after she hadn't come back to the guild since coming back from her own solo mission. Taking in another couple sniffs. "It smells funny in here." Not letting the strange smell go.

Knowing how keen his sense of smell was.  "You're probably smelling my vomit from a half an hour ago." Reminding Natsu she wasn't feeling to well. But deep down she knew it was most likely from morning sickness.

Still sniffing the strange to figure out what it was. "It's not vomit I'm smelling." Walking closer towards Lucy till he was right in front of her. "Have you been using a new shampoo?"

"No!" Gently pushing the dragon slayer away, as he was to close to her still sniffing around.

"Then what did you change up because your scent is different." Now pinpointing the strange smell on his crush. It wasn't a bad smell, its just different from what he's used to smelling when around her. It was similar, yet different at the same time.

The blonde started to panic. ' _Could it be that he's sniffing…_ ' Starting to look down at her stomach. ' _Is his nose really that good?_ ' "You might be smelling my illness." Thinking of it as the excuse for her scent being different.

"Illnesses don't smell like this." Saying in a mater of fact tone. He'd smelt numerous sicknesses and what they can do to someone's scent. This was not an illness he was smelling. It smelt to clean, even with the smell of bile coming from the bathroom. "At least not any illness I've ever smelled."

"Maybe its something you've never smelled before." Using Natsu's own words.

"Maybe." Not really convinced, especially with the look of desperation on Lucy's face _. 'She's hiding something._ ' Now starting to smell a small amount of sweat coming from the woman.

After hearing hims say her scent has changed a couple of times now even more dread was put into the pregnancy test sitting on her desk. ' _Now I really do need to take this test._ ' Now convinced the Dragon-Slayer somehow picked up on a babies scent in her. "Listen if this is something new I caught I'd rather not get you sick too so can you please leave." She could see he wasn't to concerned about getting sick himself.

Sensing his crush's desperation to get him to leave he decided to do as she asked. "I'll send Wendy over to see if she can help you get better." He said with a concerned look in his eyes. Walking towards the still open window.

"Thank you Natsu." Giving him a warm smile.

"No problem Lucy." He said before jumping out the window. Before he started to head towards the guild he took one last look as Lucy through the window she was about to close. "What's wrong Lucy?" Wanting to help her however he could.

Letting out a sigh of relief that he was now gone, but her relief was short lived when she picked up the pregnancy test on her desk. Heading towards the bathroom after what Natsu just said she was even more convinced than ever it was going to be positive. She sat down of the toilet setting the box down on the sink. Instead of opening the box she just stared at it dreading the imminent results she'd see in a couple of minutes after taking it.

* * *

**At Fairy Tail.**

Natsu kicked open the doors, and shortly got a cheerful 'good morning' from everyone inside. Unlike his normal entrance he didn't greet them back with the normal amount of energy he normally would. Instead he was looking around for Wendy. It took him a decent amount of time to spot her, but he eventually saw her laying down at one of the tables.

"Oi Flame-Brain what have you been up to?" Gray asked in a challenging manner. "I haven't seen you in four weeks." Getting himself pumped up for the usual brawl.

"Not in the mood Stripper." Ducking under a punch from his frenemy. Knowing the routine by heart now. "Yeah I'm a have squinty eyes you droopy eyed bastard." Continuing towards Wendy.

"That's strange." In the near long decade the Ice-Mage had known the Slayer neither one of them had ever backed down from a fight no matter what their condition, or how silly the reason was at any given time.

"So no fight today?" Gajeel asked from a table behind Gray already having both arms coated in iron ready to rumble.

"I guess not." Both men were so disappointed they didn't even try to fight each other instead. "Guess I'll go see what Juvia's doing." Quickly spotting the girl talking to Cana at the bar. Instead of going up to talk to her he simply watched her from afar. "Juvia-Sama." Starting to daydream about the things they would do when Juvia would accept his felling for her.

Unfortunately for Gajeel, Gray had sat down next to him while the ice mage was staring at the woman he considered a younger sister. "This is messed up." Rubbing his temples remembering this situation being in reverse less than two months ago.

"Hey Wendy." Natsu gently shook the sleeping girls shoulder. "Wendy."

"YOU SAID I COULD HAVE THE DAY OFF LAXUS!" Wendy screamed as if her life was in danger. Looking up she saw it was Natsu who had woken her up. "Sorry Natsu." She quickly apologized to her fellow dragon slayer.

Rubbing the inside of his ear.  "What was that about?" Never really seeing the younger girl scream like that before outside of a fight.

Tears formed in the corners of her brown eyes. "Laxus!" Unable to describe what the man had put her through ever since he started training her.

Lisanna rushed over to calm the bluenette down. "Laxus has been putting her through a lot of rough training the past six weeks. She comes here to rest so Mira or Erza can protect her." She informed Natsu.

' _Poor Wendy_.' Only imagining the kind of training Laxus would put someone through. After a couple more minutes of Lisanna calming Wendy down Natsu finally asked her for help. "Wendy, Lucy isn't felling to good."

"How's she doing?" Lisanna asked.

Shaking his head. "She says she been sick ever since coming back from that mission. Lucy said she didn't want to get anyone else sick so she's been staying home."

"So you want me to check on Lucy-Chan?" Wendy finally calmed down enough to speak.

"Could you please!" Wanting to get the Celestial-Mage the help she needed to get better.

"Could you bring her here?" Not wanting the hulking man to catch her.

"She says she doesn't want to risk someone else getting sick."

"So you want to send Wendy to check on her potentially getting her sick."

"I can't get sick." Wendy said. "My sky magic works automatically on me." She quickly hugged her legs to her chest. "Because of his training." Despite how harsh the training was Wendy couldn't lie that she had become a lot stronger since the training began. One of the first things they worked on was improving her timing with her healing magic, more specifically healing herself as soon as something happened to her body.

"See Lisanna nothing to worry about."

"I don't want to leave the guild." The little girl begged. "Can't you bring Lucy-Chan here?"

"It would be better if you went to check on Lucy at her place." Said Mira handing drinks out at a nearby table. "I don't want anyone sick coming into the guild now."

"But what if he catches me."

Mira stopped what she was doing thinking about how she could get Wendy to check on Lucy. She couldn't go herself as she was swamped by how busy the guild was today. Erza was currently too wasted to help anyone. She needed a favor from Natsu. Looking around she couldn't see anyone who could help protect Wendy from Laxus. "Lisanna if Laxus gets anywhere near Wendy tell him I'll make him pay, and remind him I control all the jobs coming in and out." Smiling at the little girl. "Don't worry you'll be safe."

"Why can't I protect Wendy?" Asked Natsu. "It's not like I can't handle Laxus."

"I need you to heat the ovens and stove tops." The barmaid said pointing at the kitchen. "For some reason I can't get them to heat up so I need your help."

"But I…"

"Don't worry Natsu." Said Lisanna. "I'll make sure Wendy gets to Lucy's so she can see what's wrong with her."

Despite how bad he wanted to go with the younger Dragon-Slayer so he could make sure Lucy got the help she needed, he didn't want to end up on Mira's bad side. It's not seen vary often like Erza's, but when it does come out it was a lot worse. "Tell Lucy I'll come by to see her later tonight." He said before heading into the kitchen to cook the food, Under Mira and Kinana's careful eye.

"Let's get going." Said Lisanna standing up.

Wendy slowly stood up. "Okay." Grabbing a hold of the take-over mage's hand as though it were a lifeline. At that both girls left the guild to go find out what was wrong with their Nakama.

* * *

**At Lucy's Apartment**

Lucy was still sitting on the toilet. This time not contemplating taking the test. No now she was waiting the three minutes it takes to tell you the results. Looking at her alarm clock through the open bathroom door she saw that she was less than a minute away from finding out if she was pregnant. Staring at the test in her hands waiting till it read the result.

***Knock, Knock***

At hearing someone knocking on the door startled she threw the pregnancy test as she jumped off the toilet seat. "Coming." She said making her way to the front door. When she opened it up she saw both Wendy and Lisanna standing in the doorway.

"Wendy-Chan!" Noticing the bluenette first. "Natsu sent you over, right?"

"Yup!" She said entering the apartment quickly.

"What are you doing here Lisanna?" Not really minding seeing the other girl, she was just curious as to why she tagged along with Wendy.

"Wendy was afraid Laxus would catch her if she came by herself." Entering the apartment after she was signaled to come in.

"So what are your symptoms?" Wendy asked noticing the blonde looked paler than normal.

"I've been throwing up ever since I got back." Placing her left hand on her stomach. "And I've been feeling nauseous as well." Putting her right hand on her head.

"Sound like a stomach bug." Said Lisanna. Sitting down on the couch. "Have you tried Pepdo-Bismo."

"That and three other kinds of medicines that don't want to work."

"I'll see if I can help you get better." Said Wendy. "But I think it would be best if I did this in your bedroom."

"Okay." Lucy began to lead the way to her bedroom.

Before following the blonde the bluenette turned to look at the silverette. "Thank you for getting me here, but can you stay out here until I'm done treating Lucy?"

"No problem." The Take-Over mage said before sitting back down grabbing a Sorcery Weekly off the top of the coffee table.

Lucy held the door open for Wendy before closing it once both girls where inside. "So what do you need me to do.

"Before I can do anything I need to find out what's wrong." Her hand began to glow from her body scan like spell she was casting. "This spell works best if you lay down."

The Stellar mage did as the Sky Maiden asked resting her head on the pillows.

"Here we go." Wendy began to use her magic on her friend. It didn't even take Wendy's magic three seconds to figure out what was wrong with Lucy. "Lucy-Chan you're not sick." Knowing it was something a lot more serious than a cold or flu.

Sitting up on her bed "Oh God!" Losing what little color she still had on her face knowing the younger mage was about to confirm her fears. The thing she had been dreading the past couple of days was just about to become a reality in just a few short words.

"Congratulation?" Unsure of how her Nakama would be feeling after hearing the diagnosis. "You're pregnant Lucy-Chan."

Hugging both arms around her stomach the one word kept repeating itself in her head. ' _I'm pregnant_.' After hearing it being repeated in her head for the tenth time she felt her room beginning to spin around her quickly becoming light headed. "I'm pregnant." Saying it for the first time out loud before fainting.

"Lucy-Chan!" Wendy shrieked before tending to the passed out pregnant woman.

Immediately Lisanna burst through the door seeing the healer aiding the unconscious woman. "What's wrong with her?" 

"She passed out after telling her what was wrong with her." 

"So what's wrong with her?"

"Nothing is wrong with her. Lucy is just pregnant." Wendy said before giving instructions to Lisanna to help her.

Natsu was sitting on the roof of his friends apartment out of view from the window. For those of you thinking it no he didn't run away from Mira. After his failed attempt of running away from Erza weeks ago he knew better. Instead he made a fire seal on the oven and stovetops to keep them hot until Mira needed to turn them off once the bar closed.

He couldn't believe what he just heard from the girls inside. Lucy his best friend, his crush, the woman he loved, the one he wanted to claim as his mate was pregnant. From what Igneel had taught him that meant another man had claimed Lucy as his. "Does this mean Lucy can never be mine?" He asked himself. He was 100% sure that she was his mate even after learning she had slept with that black-haired bastard, but now he was in pure doubt after hearing she was having his child.

His mind became confused. By all the teaching Igneel had given him a person can only have one mate as long as they lived, even if one of them were to die. By Lucy being pregnant with that man's child did that mean he could never have her now. That thought forced the dragon slayer to cry hot tears. "She was supposed to be mine." He whispered. "What am I going to do now." As sure he was of Lucy being his mate he was just as sure he'd never find another who could make him feel the way he did whenever she was around him.

**End Chapter 10.**

**Next Chapter.**

**What Do I Do?**


	11. What Do I Do?

In less than a minute thanks to Lisanna's assistance Wendy got Lucy in a comfortable position after making sure nothing was wrong with her after passing out from learning she was pregnant.

"So you're positive she's pregnant?" Asked Lisanna.

"With all the medical knowledge Porlyusica has passed onto me I know she is." Said Wendy.

"Poor girl." Thinking how hard learning this must be on Lucy, especially when you combine the facts the father is MIA and the fact how young she is.

Doing the math in her head. "Lucy is seven weeks along now." Still doing math. "That means the baby will be born in July. So Lucy-Chan will be turning nineteen around the time the baby is born."

"They could end up having the same birthday." Remembering the blonde's birthday was July 1st.

"That is if she…"

"Uggghhhh!" Lucy groaned as she woke up. Looking around her room she saw Wendy and Lisanna leaning over her while she lay down on her bed. "What hap…" Remembering the answer to her question before she could finish asking it. Sitting up in her bed she looked at the young dragon slayer. "So I'm pregnant." Hugging her legs to her chest scarred out of her mind.

"And currently seven weeks along." Wendy confirmed.

The celestial mage started to shed a tear as she moved one of her hands to rub her stomach over where the baby was growing inside her. "What am I…" Before she could ask the question she had the same urge to vomit she'd been having all week so she rushed to the bathroom.

Wendy was about to follow until Lisanna stopped her giving her a look to let her handle this. Sure the preteen had more medical experience than she will ever have, but she was more knowledgeable when it came to comforting others. After all she was the one who nearly ended her rampage a couple months ago.

So Lisanna stepped into the bathroom seeing Lucy emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Before she started to approach her she stopped after the first step feeling something under her bear foot. Quickly picking what she stepped on she saw it was a pregnancy test that was positive. ' _We must have just gotten here before she got the results._ ' Tossing the test in the trash before knelling down next to the now expecting woman so she could pull her hair back so it wouldn't get in the toilet as well. "Just let it out." She said soothingly while she rubbed the other girls' back gently.

Once she was done throwing up Lucy turned toward her nakama. Instead of saying thank you she asked. "What am I going to do Lisanna?" Unsure of how to handle this situation. Out of all the times she wished her mother were still alive this was the one moment she needed her the most.

"I don't know Lucy." She answered honestly. "But I'll be there to help you." She promised.

"Thank you Lisanna."

After several minutes of talking the trio decided it would be best to go the guild to help the expecting mother get some advice from the other members who already had kids. In another couple of minutes after Lucy got dressed(all in year X791 outfits) the three girls began to walk to the guild with Wendy holding onto both girls hands to make sure Laxus wouldn't snatch her. Before any of them knew it they where standing in front of Fairy Tail.

"Here we are." Said Wendy letting go of the other girl's hands as she rushed for certain safety from the evil man.

"I can't do this." Said Lucy starting to loss all her nerves.

"Come on Lucy you know you'll have to tell everyone eventually anyway." Lisanna said in a matter of fact way.

"Can't I hold off on telling everyone?" Begging her not to make her tell the guild about her situation when she was still uncertain of what to do.

"Lucy with how rowdy the guild is you might get hit during a random brawl and possibly loss the baby." Again saying in a matter of fact tone, as she knew that nearly everyone gets hit at least once during the many brawls that happens at Fairy Tail daily. She also knew the longer this gets held off the more likely she would be to get hit and it hurt the baby in the process.

Placing her hand over her stomach. "You're right Lisanna." Knowing she was right about the brawls.

Grabbing a hold of the celestial mage's hands. "I know this must be really nerve racking for you, but like I said earlier I'm here to help you."  Smiling brightly.

"Thank you." At that the two teenagers entered the guild . Looking around the room Lucy saw nearly everyone was in the guild tonight. Not only that but it looked like they were celebrating something, and when a celebration it taking place its only a matter of time till thing went flying around. Knowing that she knew she needed to tell everyone soon before something bad could happen to her, but with everyone there half of which she still needed to apologize to only added to how nervous she was about telling them the big news.

Sensing her friend's nerves growing Lisanna knew she'd need to get everyone's attention for the expecting woman. "Excuse me!" Attempting to get everyone's attention.

Fairy Tail only seemed to get more rambunctious ignoring the woman trying to get their attention.

"Excuse me!" Doubling her volume.

Still the guild couldn't hear her over their rowdiness.

Now getting irritated. "EXCUSE ME!" Lisanna yelled at the top of her lungs.

Everyone stopped what they were doing as they finally heard the silerette's voice. Now everyone in the guild was staring at her and Lucy.

"Lucy has an announcement to make." Turning to the blonde. "You're up." She whispered as she pushed her forward.

To say the celestial mage was nervous was an understatement. The last time she was in the guild with everyone around she ended up ripping half of their heads off. She knew all the girls understood what she went through that morning. They told her that they explained it to the guys, but still she had yet to apologize to them personally yet. "I'm sorry for being so mean to all of you two months ago." Giving the guild as deep a bow as she could while still standing up.

"It's okay." Wakaba slurred.

"I would have done the same if I was a chick." Macao slurred his speech as well.

"You'd be one ugly ass chick."  Insulting his long time friend.

"I'd be hotter than you'd be if you were a woman."  He countered.

"You two have had one two many." Said Cana drinking out of a normal sized mug of beer.

"Just don't let it happen again." Random member.

"We understand." Another random member spook.

Nearly everyone gave her a quick reply saying they had no bad feelings over it anymore. As a matter of fact all but one didn't accept the apology.

"Fuck you Lucy!" Gajeel yelled back while he flipped the blonde off.

' _Looks like Gajeel is the only one here who I need to make things up to._ ' Making a mental note to be careful around the Iron Dragon Slayer. "I have one more thing to say." Noticing the guild was about to go back into party mode. "I'm…" Unable to make her announcement afraid about what they would say, and by saying it out loud like she was about to think off all the things she was no where near ready for that comes with becoming a mother..

"You're?" Several people trying to help the girl get the words out.

"I'm…" Throat feeling to dried out to speak

"Just Fucking say it." Gajeel ordered growing more irritated by the girl who he believed cost him Levy.

"You can do it." Lisanna whispered into Lucy's ear encouragingly.

"I'm pregnant." Lucy only managed to whisper.

"Lucy I just barely heard that." Standing just behind her

"I'm pregnant." Barely above a whisper, but still no one besides Lisanna could hear her.

"Maybe a mug of beer will calm you nerves." Mira offered Lucy a mug of beer off of the tray loaded with drinks she was carrying thinking the alcohol would help calm her nerves for the announcement.

"I can't drink." Turning down the drink knowing full well that a pregnant woman isn't supposed to have any alcohol what so ever.

"Why not?" Still trying to give her the drink.

"Because I'm pregnant." Finally saying it loud enough for everyone to hear.

**CRASH**! That was the sound made when Mira dropped the serving tray filled with mugs of beer. "Oh My God Lucy!" She squealed as she began to hug the life out of the girl over the exciting news. The rest of the guild began to get rowdy again for they had yet another reason to celebrate. Only in three seconds did everyone start to put pieces together. And how quickly did they all sober up after seeing tears falling from the young woman with tears rolling down her face after she revealed her pregnancy to them all. This was the quickest a party had ever ended without either Erza or Makarov ending it for them.

"Oh God Lucy." Now looking sympathetically at the blonde. Now hugging the other girl in a comforting manor. After hearing about all the times Natsu had snuck into her bed and how close the two were she thought that when the blonde would make the announcement it would have been his child, and not some stranger who left her in the middle of the night.

"What am I going to do Mira?" Lucy sobbed.

"I don't know." Starting to lead her to the bar, and away from everyone else. 'Thank you.'  She mouthed to her younger sister telling her she had it from here.

The others looked on as the two women walked towards the bar first feeling sympathy toward their expecting Nakama. Feeling sorry for her as they began to think how hard this whole ordeal will be for her because they all thought the same as Mira on her eventual love life. Right then they all felt that same feeling of anger she had displaced on them two months ago because of that bastard. Right then did the entire guild agree that if that bastard ever showed his face to them again they'd make it permanently unrecognizable after they had finished with him.

Macao, Alzack, Bisca, and Wakaba all looked each other in the eye all knowing the younger woman needed all the advice the four of them could give her on becoming a parent. On the walk to the bar did they notice Gildarts had joined them. "What do you think you're dong?" They all asked in Unison.

"What I have a daughter too." Gildarts pointed at Cana.

"You didn't even know about it till she was all grown up and didn't need you anymore." Again all four said in unison. Gildarts quickly made his way towards one of the far away corners in the room vowing he'd find a way to make this up to his daughter one day. At that they started again towards the bar.

Lucy had her head pressed on the bar counter still not believing this could be happening. "What am I going to do?" Moving he left hand over her stomach taking a sip from the drink Mira had given her to help calm her down.

The four parents each took a seat next to Lucy. Each of them began to think of when their wife, or when Bisca told Alzack they were going to be parents. Both Wakaba and Macao were both nearly thirty and in committed relationships when they were told. Alzack and Bisca on the other hand were only a year older than Lucy was when they had Asuka, but they at least had each other. Lucy on the other hand wasn't even in her twenties and got pregnant after a one-night stand, and like most of the guild only had each other as family.

Macao was the first to speak, and was going to say something the rest of them might not like to hear, but felt it needed to be said. "Lucy I know this might not be the best time to say it, but you're still so young and have so much more to learn and grow as a person. I know you'd be a good caring mother, but now might be too soon for you especially on your own. You might want to think what would be best for you and…" Macao stopped what he was saying when Lucy looked up at him not with anger on her face, but sadness.

"That wouldn't be fair." She sobbed looking down at her stomach. "I can't punish the baby because of a mistake I made." Putting her head down back on the counter now hugging the child growing in her. "How would I be able to look at another child I may have in the future knowing I aborted this one." Right then Lucy made up her mind that she would have the baby, but soon came the fears of how she would be able to take care of it on her own. With those fears tears started to fall down her face.

"There, there Lucy." Bisca whispered into the blondes' ear patting her back gently. She knew better than the others did just how scary thinking how your whole world changes when you learn you're about to become a mother in less than nine months time. "You're not in this alone. The entire guild is here to help you."

Still having her head pressed down on the counter she knew it was Bisca trying to soothe her. "Thank you Bisca." Wiping away her tears.

"No problem Lucy." Bisca smiled. "If you have any questions I'm more than happy to answer them."

"Thanks." Looking each of them in the eye seeing they were all sincere in wanting to help her out. "But right now I need to think of how I'm going to support myself before and after." Rubbing her abdomen.

The four parents knew that they could help her think of ways to support herself, but knew that what she wanted right now was time alone to think. One by one in their own way told her if she had any questions or needed anything all she needed to do was ask. Each got a thank you before they started to make their way home after seeing most had left the guild already as it was only 10 O' clock which was early for them to go home, but tonight was not a night to be celebrating, not anymore.

Lucy just sat at the bar just thinking of the future she was going to have. Parts horrifying her to death while also knowing there would be rewards along the way. The thing that scarred her the most was that she'd end up doing it all by herself. The last thing she wanted to do after the way she grew up. ' _Sorry!"_ Thinking to her baby. ' _I never wanted to have you live through a broken child hood like I did._ '

"So I guess you and me are in the same boat." Said a female voice taking the empty seat next to Lucy.

Looking for the owner of the voice she saw a woman with long straight purplish-black hair. She was wearing a tie-dye purple summer dress despite it now being November. One other feature that popped out at Lucy was that she had a small, but visible baby bump. "Ultear."

"So how far along are you?" Ultear asked while ordering water from Mira.

Thinking of what Wendy had told her earlier. "Today will make seven weeks." Now starting to think of all the things that she needed to get done in the seven months before the baby is born. "How about you?"

"Fifteen weeks." She said rubbing her belly. "So mine will be about two months older than yours."

"It should be my baby." Erza drunkenly stated on the other side of the bar. She meant to mumble it to herself, but after all the alcohol she's had Erza couldn't control the volume of her voice.

"I think someone should take her home." Lucy whispered to Mira using one of her hands to cover her mouth so the armored woman couldn't hear or read her lips.

Mira looked around the bar. "Cana, Juvia. Can you two take Erza home before she does something she'll regret."

Cana set down her beer. "You know none of the guys around here are going to be stupid enough to try to take advantage of her right?" Placing one of Erza's arms over her shoulder. This had now become a daily ritual for her and Juvia since Erza began drinking after the Jellal-Ultear situation.

"Juvia has no problem assisting Cana-Sama taking Erza-Sama home." Juvia chirped taking Erza's other arm over her shoulder.

"You two are sexy." The armored mage slurred.

"I'm more so worried of her taking advantage of someone else." Said Mira before shooing the girls away.

The two Strauss sisters, Ultear, and Lucy watched as the Card and Water mage carry the stumbling armored mage back to Fairy Hills.

"I think you need to hook Erza up with someone Mira-Nee." Said Lisanna.

"I would if she could sober up enough." Mira sighed "Only who do I pair her up with? After all Jellal was…" Stopping what she was about to say remembering the woman carrying his child was within an arms length of her.

Ultear dropped her head down just hard enough to make a thump sound on the bar counter. "I'm not too happy about this situation either." Making small sobbing sounds. "Sure I'm happy I get to sleep in a nice warm bed again, and not have to worry about giving birth in some cave while taking care of it on the road. Still though I don't like the fact I took Jellal away from Erza this way."

"Then why'd you sleep with Jellal?" Lucy asked the question only the redhead had asked her since Ultear became a member of Fairy Tail.

"I don't know why I did." She hiccuped. "All I know is Jellal is promised not to leave me without me even thinking of asking him."

Right then did she realize that Ultear was correct in saying both of them where indeed in the same boat. Right then did she think of something that would bring up both of their moods. "Hopefully our babies will be friends growing up." Putting on a smile.

Picking her head up off the counter she smiled at the thought as well. "I'd like that." Right then did both women start to look forward to the future a bit more. After all what really mattered now wasn't how they go there, but that they took care of their children to the best of their abilities.

"Are you ready do go home?" Asked a male voice placing his hand on the time mage's shoulder.

Looking for the body connected to the hand did she see Jellal standing beside her. "Yeah!" She said as they began to walk towards the door. "See you later Lucy." Waving goodbye.

"See you later Ultear." Said Lucy now grateful she had someone else to talk to going through the same ordeal she was.

"Lucy take this." Makarov said appearing out of nowhere, as he handed her an envelope.

"What's this?" Opening up the envelope seeing it filled up with jewels. "Where did you get this?" Freaking out about the large sum of jewels in her hands.

"That's the money that Ceadra used to win your bid. After hearing you were pregnant I thought it would be best for you to have it to support yourself while you get prepared for what's to come." Makarov was smiling the whole time happy to help one of his children.

"Sorry Master but I can't accept this." Handing the Jewels back.

"Why not?" Now confused.

"As much as I hate to admit this it was my decision to sleep with that 'Asshole' that night. We were all told to remind our dates we were not going to sleep with them, but I did anyway."

"You know I won't allow you take on any dangerous missions while you're pregnant right?" Still keeping the envelope held out for her to take.

"Yeah!" She sighed realizing most of the jobs required some sort of fighting to get the job done. Sure there were also missions that required no fighting whatsoever on the board, but those were few and far between due to Fairy Tails reputation. That and once she got further in she knew traveling to go on jobs would be out of the question as well.

"What about the idea I gave you six weeks ago?" Mira asked the master.

"It's been approved by the mayor so go ahead." At that Makarov made his exit still having the envelope in hand wishing it wasn't there despite how much he needed it to pay off Fairy Tails debts.

"What were you two talking about?" Lucy asked the barmaid.

"You see after looking through the books on the night of the auction we nearly made as much money selling food and drinks to the guests as we did from the action itself." Mira began. "After showing that to Master I asked him if I could turn the bottom floor into a restaurant and bar open to the public."

Thinking back to that night she remembered the guests staying for quite a long time before leaving having a good time hanging around the guild after the action was over. "I guess that's good for clearing away our debt."

"And good for you as well." The take-over mage smiled.

"What do you mean?"

"This means I now have a job opened up for you."

"Huh?"

"I've already have a couple cooks learning my recipes, Kinana will be heading the bar from now on, and I'll have to host and oversee everything to make sure the restaurant has everything it needs daily. With how crowded we were that night I know I still need a couple of waitresses to cover for me and Kinana having to do our new jobs." Stretching out her hand. "So what do you say." Offering her friend a job.

Lucy thought about it for a couple of minutes. Sure it wasn't a glamorous job, but it would pay the bills until she was able to go back on missions that would have better pay. It also guaranteed she wouldn't have to do any traveling or placing the baby in any unnecessary danger. From how the guild acted after she had revealed her news they all knew they couldn't get into brawl when she or Ultear were around. Plus with the public now coming in for food and drinks they'd have to take the fights outback from now on for the customers sake as well. She loved going on missions with her teammates, but hated the fact she never got to take home more than half the share she should have gotten due to collateral damages, so brining home a steady paycheck would be nice for a change, plus the tips she'd get daily. "Alright, I'll take it." Shaking Mira's hand accepting her new job.

"Good." After they stopped shaking hands Mira picked up a bag from behind the counter. "The job will start next week, and there are three uniforms in the bag for you."

"Thank you Mira." She yawned. "I think I'd better go home and get some rest." Starting to realize just how long and emotionally draining the day had been on her. Then she thought of something else. "Mira have you seen Natsu?"

"After getting Wendy and Lisanna to go check on you I had him fix the stoves for me. After that he left only to come back and grab a job shortly after getting back saying he needed to get away for a while."

' _Did he hear about my condition?_ ' Thinking that Natsu had heard Wendy reveal the news to her. ' _But why would Natsu leave after that. I mean it's not like…_ '

Seeing the concern on the blonde's face Mira snapped her out of her thoughts. "Don't worry Lucy Natsu can take care of himself. Besides right now you should be worrying about yourself." Mira knew exactly why Natsu had left. The man was in love with her and he must have heard about her condition thus causing him pain as well not knowing what this all meant for the two of them now with the traditions of dragon mating he was taught growing up. How does she now about Dragon mating rituals you ask? After being convinced Natsu would end up with her sister Lisanna she looked up everything she could in regards to the subject so she could warn her sister of what to expect later on, but that was before Lisanna went to Edolas, meeting, and eventually falling for Lucy. _'Poor Natsu. This must be nearly as hard on him as it is for Lucy.'_

"You're right Mira." Lucy sighed. "I think I'd better head home." Standing up. "See you tomorrow boss." Now heading for the door.

"Good night Lucy."

Walking toward the door to head home until she felt someone grab a hold of her shoulder. Looking back she saw it was Gray fully clothed for once.

"Do you want me to walk you home Lucy?" Gray asked not wanting anything bad to happen to the girl that he considered his younger sister.

"I appreciate the offer Gray, but I'll be just fine." Rubbing her stomach. "It's going to be a while before the baby starts limiting me."

Opening the door for her. "Just be safe." Concern on his face. "After all you're caring for a second life now."

"I know." She said before walking out the door. Stopping suddenly she turned around to look at the now shirtless Gray. "I'm sorry for yelling at you the way I did."

"It's alright. If I were in your shoes I would have done the same."

"Sorry if I ruined your chances with Juvia." Remembering what she said to the Water-Woman while he lay on the table defenselessly after she had thrown him on it.

Sighing. "If anything I ruined my chances with her myself for how I treated her." Knowing full well it was his own neglectful fault Juvia wasn't his at the moment.

Nodding her head she started to walk home. After walking home for a minute in the cold November night she felt someone putting a jacked over her just as she began to shiver. Turning around she saw who it was "Loke!"

"You might be able to tell Gray no, but as your spirit it's my job to protect you at all times." Looking down at her abdomen. "Both of you."

"I could always close your gate." Pulling out his key playfully.

Quickly snatched his key out of the blonde's hand. "It's my job to protect you at all times." He said in a serious tone. "Both of you." 

"Thank you Loke." The two started to walk home.

"Lucy I can fell your fears, all of them." Loke started. "I know what you fear most is ending up raising this child alone." Drawing his mistress in to keep her warm on this cold November night. "I want you to know if somehow that does happen I'll always be there for you two. All of us will be." Speaking on behalf of all the celestial spirits Lucy had contracts with.

"Can a spirit be with a human?" Now thinking it would be Loke acting as the father to her child if no one would want her after having this child.

"No, but its not like it would be the first time I've broken the rules of the Spirit World."  Grinning, willing to defy anyone to help his master.

"Thanks Loke." The rest of the walk home was in silence. When they reached her apartment Lucy told Loke he could head back home as she was just going to make dinner, take a shower, and then go to bed.

Though he didn't want to go Loke knew better than anyone else just how exhausting this day was for his mistress. "See you soon princess." Giving her a hug and his key back before fading away.

"See you later Loke." Inserting her key into the lock to let her inside. Right before turning the key to unlock her door Lucy saw an envelope on her doorstep addressed to her. Bending down to pick it up she opened it thinking it was the one Master had tried to give her earlier, but quickly realized it wasn't when she saw it said 'Support?' on the front of it in an unfamiliar handwriting. Upon opening the envelope did she see it filled with Jewels. Counting it up she saw it had 70,000 Jewels in it. Looking back at the writing on the envelope she somehow knew it was in Ceadra's handwriting. "Asshole!" Throwing the envelope and its contents behind her. "That's not the kind of support I need." Slamming the door behind her.

Someone watched Lucy tossing the envelope away and was quick to pick it up after they were certain no one was watching them do it. After looking inside it and back to the house a couple of times the stranger asked themself. "What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into young lady?"

**End Chapter 11**

**Next Chapter**

**Waitress?**


	12. Waitress?

3 Months later.

Here's what's gone down for our oh so lovable members of Fairy Tail over the last three months.

**Gray** continues to stalk **Juvia** who on two occasions almost decided to give him a change like he never did for her, but both times reminded herself that he had his chances.

**Wendy** had gone on a month long S-Class missions with **Laxus** after he felt she needed some field practice so he could make proper adjustments in her training.

**Freed** and **Levy** announced themselves as a couple to the rest of the guild, much to **Gajeel's** dismay who began to isolating himself like he did when he first joined Fairy Tail.

When not on a mission **Erza** would continue to attempt to drink her sorrows away as she saw **Ultear** get bigger(6 ½ months along) the further she got along carrying her and **Jellal's** son.

**Mira** though struggled for a while was finally getting into the grove of running the restaurant after **Lucy** had helped her understand the business aspects of running a restaurant. In her free time she tried to find herself a boyfriend after Lucy had reminded her about not having one in so long, but had little success in doing so.

**Lisanna** pretty much became Lucy's best female friend, and had temporarily taken her place on Team Natsu whenever they took a team mission, but only after getting Lucy's blessing due to her rant.

**Natsu** still uncertain about his relationship with the woman he thought was his mate continued to take mission after mission hoping he could figure out the answer to making Lucy his. Unfortunately with the teaching Igneel had given him couldn't think of a way to make Lucy his while avoiding her the entire three months. Needless to say this was the hardest three months of his life.

**Lucy** had gotten used to working as a waitress quite fast, and had actually helped out quite a bit more than she thought she would. She taught Mira how to run a business from all the classes her father had forced her to take when she was still a child. Besides still trying to get over what Ceadra(Zeref) had done to her, Natsu who for some reason was avoiding, and all the wonderful side effects coming along with being pregnant everything else was going just fine for her so long as she wasn't left alone because when she was that was when she was let everything out that troubled her and believe me a lot of things were troubling her. The thing that always troubled her the most was the pure fact was that she was alone despite the support her Nakama were giving her. Right now though the thing troubling her was one of her frequent customers she had the displeasure of serving.

(Now getting started with the chapter.)

Walking up to him in her waitress uniform that was a white blouse with a dark purple bow-tie, and an equally purple skirt coming down to her knees that was mostly covered by an apron tied around her growing waist. "How you doing Gajeel?" Lucy asked her least favorite customer with a forced smile.

"Oh you know just enjoying some nice quiet nights alone." Gajeel answered. "You know what that's like right?"

' _More so than you_.' Keeping the answer to herself. "So what can I get for you today Gajeel?"

Looking at the menu. "A whole hen with a side of baby corn and baby carrots."

Writing down his order she felt a vain pop in/on her head. Every time without fail he'd poke fun at her, and with starting to get mood swings it took all her will power not to snap at him while the guild was crowded with customers. Oddly enough it was the only time he'd eat at the guild was during the dinner rush knowing it would be the worst time for her to go off on him. "Anything else Gajeel?" Doing her best to keep her smile on.

"Has Mira gotten around to my request of making a rabbit stew yet?" Smirking as he continued to provoke his waitress.

"Not yet." Nearly breaking the pen she used to write the order down in half. ' _Oh God if I wasn't pregnant right now, or needed this job I'd so kick your ass.'_ Losing her smile for a split second.

"If that's the case I'd like a slice of carrot cake for dessert." Gajeel handed the menu back to Lucy. "Hop to it Bunny Girl."

"Coming right up." Hormones wanting to force her to lash back only for her to deny them not wanting to potentially lose her job. Feeling tears wanting to fall she lowered her head so her bangs hid her face as she walked to the kitchen to give them the order.

Little did Gajeel know was that Natsu was in the guild that night after coming back from yet another mission, and overheard everything his fellow Dragon-Slayer had said. Continuing to listen he heard some of the more frequent dinners asking why the man was being such an asshole to the pregnant waitress who was always so nice to everyone. Unlike her though he didn't care about keeping his cool in front of the packed restaurant the bottom floor of Fairy Tail had become. Cracking his knuckles he got up and headed over towards his crush's bully to teach him a lesson.

Mira saw as Lucy walked closer to her to give her the ticket. Quickly she realized the other woman was on the verge of tears. "He did it again didn't he?" She asked angrily. This marked the sixth time Gajeel had pushed the blond to the verge of tears. She'd warned him several times now to stop but obviously he wasn't listening to her.

"Gajeel." Sniffing back tears from falling. "I don't know what I have to do to…"

"Lucy, Gajeel is just being a dick who can't get over the fact he didn't make a move when he should have." Kinana said mixing an adult drink. "If you want I can have Markus or Davis spit in his food."  Pointing her thumb back at the two chefs.

"Please don't do that." Mira remembering everything the health inspector warned her about what could get her sued, closed down, or worse. Looking back at her other employee still on the verge of crying. "Why don't you go to the bathroom clear your face up." She suggested taking the ticked from her hand. "I'll go have a word with Gajeel."

"Okay." Quickly making her way to the restroom that luckily was empty when she stepped inside it. Turning on the faucet she let her tears fall as she washed them away by splashing water on her face. "Freaking Gajeel." Now shaking from pent-up frustrations. "I know you blame me for costing you Levy, but you're raising my stress up to much." Placing her right hand over her baby-bump. "Sorry baby I know all this stress isn't good for you." Grabbing for a towel to dry her face off. "You can do this girl." Encouraging herself before going back to the counter to finish up the rest of her shift.

"Feeling any better?" Kinana asked whipping a mug clean concerned for her friend.

"A little bit." She lied masking her frustration.

"Do you need to head home?"

Looking up at the clock seeing she had less than ten minutes left before she could go home. "I'll finish my shift."

"Okay." Hearing a bell coming from the kitchen she turned to grab the order ready to go out. "Here's the bastards order." Handing the plate of food over.  Getting a spectical look from the blonde.  "No spit."

Taking the plate from the purple-haired barmaid.  "You can do this girl." Again encouraging herself dealing with the Iron Dragon Slayer would soon be over as she went to deliver the food. "Here's your order Gajeel." Setting the plate down without looking at the man.

"Thanksss." The man spoke with a lisp.

Notching the change in the man's voice the celestial-mage looked at him to see he had a puffed up cheek, a black eye, blood coming from is right nostril, and finally noticed he was no longer sitting up straight as he leaned to the right. "Oh, my God what happened?" She sounded worried, but on the inside thanking whoever did this for doing it for her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He clearly lied.

Looking around at the other customers they pointed out who taught her bully a lesson for her, as they all knew she'd want to thank him. After following the directions the blonde finally spotted the man who happened to be her pink haired best friend she hadn't really seen over the last three months. Before she could go talk to him she needed to do one last think. "Can I get you anything else Gajeel?"

Shaking his head. "No thank you Luccccy!" He managed to say before passing out face first onto his chicken dinner.

With her customer no longer needing anything from her the blonde made her way over to the pinkette who was seated at a table for two as all the seats at the bar were filled. "Long time no see Natsu." Taking the seat across from him.

Somewhat startled that his crush had taken the seat across from him, he was broken out of what he was thinking about. "Yeah I guess it has been." It pained him to admit as this had been the longest time they'd been apart since he brought her into the guild a year and a half ago.

"How have you been?"  She smiled.

"Alright, just been taking a lot of missions." Taking a glance at her now growing stomach as he asked her the same question.

"Alright I guess. Finally gotten used to my knew job." Rubbing her stomach. "Getting things ready."

This conversation was getting more and more awkward for Natsu the longer it went on. On the insides his mind was yelling at him to confess to her, while Igneel's teachings kept telling him he couldn't have her anymore. _'Man what do I do?'_ Asking himself unaware of how his mental struggles made him look.

"Are you alright Natsu?" Lucy asked worried about her teammate.

"Yeah I'm fine I just uh…" Trying to think of what to say.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Finally asking the question, as this conversation was as equally awkward for her as it was for him. Mira would be squealing is she heard she missed the man sneaking into her bed like he used to because to be honest she missed her fiery friend's company. She knew it had something to do with her pregnancy as he'd been avoiding her like she had the plague ever since she knew he eased dropped on Wendy telling her she was pregnant.

That one question made everything going on inside the Dragon Slayers mind come to a complete halt. How could he explain it to her without it crushing not only his world but dragging her into as well as he could smell the salt from tears that had soaked into her clothing. Also with his enhanced hearing he knew everyone in the guild was looking at them listening in on the conversation, a third of them thinking he was the father of the child. ' _Believe me I with I was.'_ He mentally answered that question. "Can we talk about it later." Pointing out that the dinners were watching them.

Looking around did she see that everyone was indeed eavesdropping on them. "I'm off here shortly." She had only two customers left before she could get off. "Maybe we can talk about it at my place later after you walk me home?" Wanting her best male friends company as he always seemed to put a smile on her face no matter what it was that he did, and after all the stress she was under she needed someone to make her laugh like he always seemed to be able to do.

"Sorry!" Lowering his head so his bangs hid his eyes hoping it would make his lie more convincing by masking his face. "But Erza, Ice-Princess, Lisanna and myself are leaving on a mission early tomorrow."

"Oh, I see." Felling saddened that she wouldn't get to spend time with her best friend. "How long will you four be gone this time?"

"I don't know Gray was the one who picked the job out this time." Again lying to give himself more time to think about the situation.

"Well when you do get back I'd like to hang out with you." Doing her best to smile.

"I'd like that too."

"I have weekends off." Lucy said just in case Natsu came back on one of her days off. Since becoming a waitress working at Fairy Tail she really didn't come to the guild on her days off unless something special was going on in the guild that day.

"I'll make sure to hang out with you when I come back from my next mission." The Dragon-Slayer forced his signature grin.

"Looking forward to it." Truly looking forward to talking to him once he got back so for once her smile wasn't forced like it had been for so long. "See you soon." Standing up to go check on her last customers of the day.

"See you later Lucy." Halfheartedly waving goodbye.

Walking towards Gajeel's table she saw it to be empty. Looking down she saw he had left the jewels for his meal as well as a fat tip bigger than what the meal cost him, plus a piece of paper where he had written down 'I'm sorry' that he was clearly forced to write down by Natsu. Putting the jewels in the appropriate pockets she made her way to her last customer she needed to cheek on. "So how was the meal Gray?" Smiling at her other male teammate.

"Great." Wiping his mouth with his T-shirt he confused for a napkin.

"Gray clothes." She whispered in his ear.

Looking down did he realize he ruined his white T-shirt with navy blue sleeves. ' _Crap!_ ' Mentally cursing himself as he put the shirt back on. After putting his stained shirt on Gray pulled out his wallet to pay for the meal as well as give his friend a tip.

"So I hear you're going on a mission with Natsu, Lisanna, and Erza tomorrow?" She asked the Ice Mage who looked at her with a confused look on his face.

"We just got back from doing one. Flame-Ass insisted on going on another one, but we all told him we needed a break." Gray said seeing the smile Lucy had was slowly fade away. "Flame-Ass said he was going to take a solo after we told him no. As for Erza." Pointing to her as she stumbled her way out of the guild. "I don't think she'd been sober enough to go on a mission tomorrow."

Looking over at Natsu who was being waited on by Mira did the Celestial Mage feel like she'd been betrayed by another man she thought she could trust. ' _Why did you lie to me Natsu?_ '

"Are you alright Lucy?"

"Yeah I'm fine." She lied holding back tears.

Looking over his shoulder he saw that Juvia was getting ready to leave the guild. "Sorry, but I've got to go catch a movie with someone." Gray said over hearing that Juvia was going to go see a movie with Cana, Lisanna, and Levy.

"You do realize you're doing the same thing Juvia was doing to you right?" She asked knowing the Ice-Mage didn't hear a single word of her question before taking off after the Water Woman. Letting out a sigh she made her way toward the bar to tell Kinana she was going to head home after giving her the pay for the food, and the portion of the tips to the barmaid and cooks. "See you on Monday Kinana."

"Have a nice weekend Lucy." Kinana said wiping the bar counter clean.

At that Lucy started to head home unaware of the conversation her boss was having with the man she didn't know was in love with her.

* * *

**Natsu.**

"Why don't you make a move ?" Mira asked serving him the fire chicken he had ordered.

"Huh?" Natsu completely caught off guard by the barmaid's question.

"You do love her don't you?"

"Love who." For once pretending to be dumb.

"Please you know I'm taking about Lucy."

The Fire-Mage stayed quiet.

"After the way you beat Gajeel down there anyone could tell you have feelings for Lucy."

"I do. It's just..." Not wanting anyone else to know about his inner struggle. Then again Mira was really good at helping people out with their love problems.

"Just what?"

"Lucy has already been claimed." He spoke softly letting the barmaid know about his inner struggle.

"What?" The Take Over-Mage perplexed by what the Dragon Slayer just said.

Interlocking his fingers together he rested his forehead against his hands. "Igneel told me that when a man and a woman mate it's for life." Letting out a sigh. "At first I thought I might still have a change with Lucy after he left her, but." Taking a deep hard breath. "After hearing she's having his child that means his claim on Lucy is permanent." Looking up at Mira with a tear falling down his left cheek. "Don't you see I can't make a move because she's been claimed. No matter how much I want to be with her I just…" Unable to complete his sentence as he was beginning to choke out the words that were turning into sobs. Almost immediately after losing his words did he fell two warms arms wrap around his shoulder.

"Natsu you are not a dragon no matter how much Igneel taught you about being a dragon." Mira spoke softly trying to soothe the younger mage as she began to pat his back after moving so she sat beside him. "You are a man who is in love with a woman who yes is pregnant with another mans child. You're right as even for non-dragons normally that claims the girl for yourself. But he gave up any right he had in calling Lucy his own when he walked out on her the way he did."

"Mira…" Natsu didn't know what to say.

"Natsu if you really want Lucy to be yours then go to her place right now and tell her how much she means to you. He might be the father to her baby, but you'd make a great dad for her baby, and right now that's what she needs more than anything is someone to give her the support her and her baby needs. If you really do love her then be the man to give her that support."

Somewhere along her speech he had begun to calm. "Thank you Mira." Standing up from his seat wiping the tears away. "I really appreciate what you just told me." Now making his way towards Lucy's apartment. "I'm all fired up."

"Good luck Natsu." ' _The next one will be the pink-haired baby with big brown eyes_.' The matchmaker squealed on the inside. ' _But first a cute black-haired baby with big…brown eyes_.'

After running all the way to his crush's apartment did he smell a strong scent of salty tears coming from her place. "How hard has this whole thing been on you Lucy?" Not sure if the tears he was smelling were fresh or not. Jumping up to her windowsill he was about to open it up until he heard someone knocking on the door below. Knowing that if it was a member of Fairy Tail they'd be doing the same as him he looked down from the roof to see an older woman wearing a read dress with her gray hair tied up in bun. "Lucy's Landlady." Recognizing the old woman. "Please tell me you've paid the rent !" Hoping she wasn't about to get evicted. "This is the last thing she needs right now."

* * *

**Lucy.**

After being walked home by Loke like she had been since the night she revealed her pregnancy to the guild she made her way inside after sending the spirit back home with a thanks like always. Once inside her quiet home did she fall into the couch before grabbing one of the pillows to cry into. Normally when she would do this she'd ask out to that 'Asshole' why did he leave her, why Gajeel kept making fun of her, or simply from her hormones acting up. This time however she sobbed because of something she thought she'd never cry about. "Why are you avoiding me Natsu?" Asking the pillow she sobbed into knowing he lied to her about the mission he said he was going on tomorrow instead of coming over to hang out with her like he always used to do. "I really need you to talk to." After crying for a while did she hear something dragging her out of her depression.

***Knock, Knock ***

"Be there in moment." Taking off her apron she did her best job to wipe away her tears before heading to the door. "Landlady?" Lucy questioned why she was here, and quickly realized she hadn't paid this months rent yet. "One sec I'll get the rent." Quickly heading to the living room to grab her purse gathering the 70,000 jewels. "Here you go." Walking back towards the entrance where her landlady still stood to hand her the jewels.

"Thank you child." Putting the rent in her purse not even bothering to count it.

"Sorry about being late." Rubbing the back of her neck out of embarrassment for being late on rent when she had the jewels to pay on time.

"Can we talk?" The Landlady asked.

The question made her nervous. Usually when her landlady wanted to talk it was something bad. "Sure." Letting the smaller woman inside her home. "Would you like some tea?"

"Water will be fine." Making her way toward the couch before siting on it.

Grabbing two water bottles out of the fridge the blonde made her way to the living room handing the landlady the bottle before sitting in the chair opposite of the older woman. Today was already a bad day, and with the older woman wanting to talk to her Lucy began to wonder just how bad this day could get. ' _Could she be here to kick me out after paying late again?_ ' Now worrying about having to find a new place to live on top of everything else on her loaded plate.

The intense serious look the older woman normally had slowly began to soften up preparing to talk to the younger woman about what she'd been meaning to talk to her about since she began to show. "Child…"

"Landlady please don't kick me out." The Celestial-Mage pleaded. "I'm sorry for paying late again. It was an honest mistake that…"

"Relax child. I'm not going to evict you. If I was ever going to do that it would have been whey you disappeared for seven years."

Letting out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank you Landlady."

"Please call me Sylvia." The landlady revealed her real name

"Thank you Sylvia." Finally learning her landlord's name.

"How have things been going for you child?" Pointing at her growing belly.

"Alright." Lying

"You wear your heart on you sleeve child." Now pointing at the tear lines she unsuccessfully tried to wipe away. "There's no need to lie to me."

"Not so well." Letting her cheerful mask she's been keeping on come off for once. "Bad day at work." Trying to lean her troubles solely on work.

"Then how's about all the tears you've shed over the past three months?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"It has something to do with the baby growing inside you doesn't it?"

Realizing Sylvia wasn't going to drop the subject Lucy decided to tell her. "Its father!"

Sylvia began pulling out four envelopes Lucy recognized as the ones Ceadra had been giving her. The old woman placed all four on the coffee table between the two of them. "70K Jewels," pointing at the first one. "80K" continuing to go down the line of when they were thrown away by her tenant. "90K, and finally 100K"

"Why do you have those?" Having tossed each of them in a way that said she didn't want them.

"Because they all belong to you child."

"Please call me Lucy." No longer being liked being called a child any longer, especially when she was now halfway through her pregnancy.

"They belong to you Lucy, and your baby."

"I don't want them."

"Why not? The father of your child clearly wants to make sure you have the means to take care of yourself while he's gone. Isn't that why you're crying because your pink haired love is on a mission unaware of leaving you alone with child?" Normally she'd see the pink haired man break into her tenant's bedroom window almost nightly, but hasn't seen him since she started working as a waitress. "Don't tell me you two had a fight before he left." Thinking that was the reason she had been crying.

"Natsu is not the father." Even though part of her wished he was because then she'd know he'd be right here with her and the baby.

"Then who is the father?" Once again pointing at Lucy's belly.

"It doesn't matter." Trying to hold back tears threatening to fall.

"It does matter." Said Sylvia.

"Someone who left me in the middle of the night." Anger flaring in the pregnant mage's voice once again being force to remember that morning. "Obviously he doesn't care about me." Pointing out he wasn't around "All I was to him was a one night stand."

"If he doesn't care for you then why does he keep giving you money well after?" Speaking in a calming voice. "Believe me Lucy I know what it's like to be deserted after a night of passion. Those feelings of hatred, hurt, and sorrow." Thinking of when she was young. "If he didn't care for you like you claimed he did he wouldn't be giving you these." Touching one of the envelopes.

"Then why did he leave me in the middle of the night?"

"I don't know why he did, but…" standing up she walked toward where her tenant sat and placed a hand over the her baby bump. "Maybe he had a feeling this would happen to you…"

"Then if he did have this feeling." Removing the older woman's hand from her stomach. "Then that means he had that much more reason to stay with me till I woke up and tried to expand on our relationship." The damn broke as tears cascaded down her face. "You know the last thing he said to me before I feel asleep in his arms was that he loved me."

Reaching behind the landlady picked up one of the envelopes. "This might not seem like love to you, but right now this may be that man's only way of showing it to you."

"He could have woken me up and told me why he had to leave. He didn't even leave me a note."

"I don't know why he didn't do either of those things. But some people have a sixth sense about these kind of things." Placing her hand back onto the growing belly. "These tell me he wants to make sure you have means to take care of yourself until he can see you again if he believes he got you pregnant."

"Then why did he leave me like that?" Once again asking the question she'd been asking since waking up that morning.

"I don't know, that's something you'll have to ask him when you see him again."

"What if I never see him again?" Lucy sniffled.

"Believe me you will. Until then use these to support yourself and your baby." Picking up all four envelopes placing them into the young woman's hand. "Even if you still believe he used you place your pride to the side, and use this money for the baby. As a parent it's your job to make sure your baby is taken care of above all other things. Never forget that Lucy."

"Alright!" Gripping the four envelops tightly now beginning to wonder if Ceadra did mean what he said that night after Sylvia's talk to her.

After feeling her words had gotten through to Lucy did Sylvia begin to make her way to the door. "Don't go tossing anymore of those away, and remember even if you don't want it then make sure it all goes to your baby."

"Okay." Picking up her apron to wipe her tears away

"One last thing."

"Yes." Wondering what else her landlord had to say.

"Your rent is now 60,000 jewels a month from now on." Sylvia smiled

"Thank you." Smiling back.

"You're welcome." Making her way out the door. Once outside she looked behind to see the pink-haired idiot readying to break into the blondes home again. Knowing that he had heard the entire conversation. "If you still want a shot at being with her you'd better make a move now Pinkie." ' _Especially since that man could come back at any time_.'

Natsu nodded his head. After his talk with Mira he knew he needed to tell Lucy about his feelings for her. Now after hearing the conversation Sylvia had with Lucy he knew if he was ever going to make his move it needed to be now before Ceadra came back and possibly patch things up with Lucy. "Don't worry I plan on doing it now." He grinned at the old woman before opening the window making his way in so he could make his confession. "Lucy needs more than just money for support. She needs someone to be there for her, and her baby." Walking into the hall way into the living room where he planned on confessing his love for Lucy. "Hi Lucy." Sneaking up behind the blonde siting on the couch staring at a set of envelops in her hands he placed one of his strong hands on her shoulder.

Looking up at the voice. "Natsu!" Confused yet happy to see him. "What are you doing here?"

* * *

**Outside Lucy's apartment.**

Walking away from her tenant's apartment Sylvia took one last look at it. "What a foolish girl and boy." She snickered as she no longer needed to play the role of the caring elder. "Oh Lord Zeref I can now see how easy it was for you to manipulate her." At that the real Sylvia emerged from old woman's body as it dropped down to the ground unconscious. Sylvia's true form was that of a much younger woman than the one she had possessed looking to be in her early twenties. She had long straight purple hair curling at the bottom, black eyes as dark as night, she wore a dark purple dress coming down to the thigh. "Lucy you have no idea the world you've been dragged into." Looking up at the night skies. "I wonder how much longer you plan on waiting till you show your face to her again Lord Zeref? After all if you don't come back before too long Natsu might fill in that gap you left in Lucy's heart."

**End Chapter 12**

**Next Chapter**

**Confession.**


	13. Confession?

"What are you doing here Natsu?" Lucy asked watching him move so he'd be in front of her.

"I'm came to talk to you." Natsu answered taking as seat on the couch opposite of the blonde sitting on her recliner.

Although happy to see her best friend finally came over to see her she couldn't help but remember the lie he had told her a little over an hour ago. "I thought you had a mission to go on tomorrow." Her smile slowly began to fade.

Rubbing his left arm with his right out of guilt. "I'm sorry Lucy, but that was a lie." It pained him to admit he lied to his best friend, but at the same time he knew he had to be completely honest with her in order to make his confession.

Turning her head in a way she wasn't looking at he man, but at the same time could see him clearly. "Gray said you wanted to go on one after you all got home today. He also told me they refused you and you decided to take a solo because of it."

"I did." He felt his chest growing heavy further admitting his previous want to avoid his crush.

"Why did you lie to me?" Wanting to know why he betrayed her trust. "I thought we were best friends?"

"We are." Answering the second question but found trouble trying to word the second answer.

"Then why did you lie. Don't you think it hurt me having someone else lie to me after…"

"I didn't mean to hurt you." Gently reaching over the small coffee table separating them to wipe away a lone tear that made its way down the blonde's cheek. "I just…" Again taking some time to think of how to word what he'd been going through the last three months without sounding insensitive to Lucy. Eventually he told himself screw it and just go for it. After all he always did his best work when things were on the fly. "I was confused…"

"You were confused?" Lucy cut him off with anger slowly taking sorrows place with each word. "What about me? Do you have any idea what it's been like for me since finding out I was pregnant." Two levels below shouting.

"I was being selfish." Natsu admitted. "I really didn't start to think how rough things have been for you since I snuck in through your window." ' _Not until I smelt all the tears you've shed._ '

The blonde tried to speak but was cut off when the pinkette started to talk again.

"I've been a horrible friend to you these last three months Lucy." Feeling tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. "Everyone in the guild has helped you in someway except for me. They all embraced the fact you're having a baby while I've been avoiding you…"

"Like I have the plague." In a mocking tone.

"Yeah!"

"Why have you been avoiding me?"

"Like I said I've been confused over the last few months."

"Why would you be confused."

The Slayer took in a deep breath. "Because I care for you."

"You care for me?" The Celestial-Mage questioned on what level did he care. Thinking back to a conversation that she had with Lisanna she remembered the other girl telling her how she once confessed her feelings towards Natsu only to get told that he cares for her as a Nakama. "As Nakama?"

"I like you more than that." The fire wizard felt his cheeks begin to warm up.

"What?" The stellar mage also feeling her cheeks warm up hearing those words.

"Didn't you notice how much closer to you I was getting to you before the auction?"

Thinking back five-months she remembered him pretty much being by her side ever since the whole eclipse situation last July. ' _He was getting closer to me._ ' She never really thought too much of it a few months ago, but with the man admitting he liked her more than just Nakama it started to make sense. "Ever since Eclipse you've never really left my side."

"I was so close to losing you that day Lucy." A look of worry spread across the mans face.

"Natsu." Reaching out to comfort him.

"If I had arrived a second later I never would have never seen you again."

"I was so scared that day." Flashes of her near death experience flashed before her. How she was told she was going to be sacrificed to open the gate before losing consciousness as it began to drain her off all her magic. "All I remember after waking up was being in your arms seeing you crying saying you were sorry you were almost to late."

"I still have nightmares of that day." He admitted. "That's why I was originally started getting closer to you."

"Its not like that was the first time you saved me." Speaking calm and softly.

"But it was the closest I was to losing you." Tears slowly trickled down his face.

"Natsu."

"After that day I asked myself what would have happened if I had arrived a second later." Not wanting to say he would have lost her, he skipped over saying it. "I imagined what my life would have been like without you in it."

"What did you imagine." Lucy asked. By the looks on the man's face she could easily tell how difficult it was for him to talk about the subject.

"Nothing!" He said. "I couldn't see anything without you in my life."

Feeling her heart skip a beat. ' _Did Natsu just confess to me without saying 'I love you'_?' She then tried to imagine what her life would be like if Natsu wasn't in it after Eclipse. After a few moments of imagining she couldn't see it. ' _Could it be that I…_ '

Natsu cut of her trail of thoughts as he stood up only to kneel down in front of her placing his hand over her baby bump. His eye moving from Lucy's eyes to the baby growing inside her.

"If you couldn't see a life without me in it then why have you been avoiding me?"

"The same reason I bid so high for you at the auction."

"Why did you bid so high?" Asking a question she was more than sure she knew the answer to.

"I couldn't see a life without you, so do you really think I could see a future with you being with another man?" Again confessing to the woman he loved without actually saying the three magic words. "I wanted to make sure no one would out bid me for you, but my plan didn't work out."

Still seeing how hard it was for Natsu to be saying what he was Lucy didn't want to interrupt him so she thought to herself. ' _That explains the high bid, but what about you avoiding me?'_

"I was so mad that he beat me. I tried to follow the two of you on your date." Admitting to his attempts of stalking. "But I couldn't get off the train." Face turned a little green thinking about his nightmare day of four train rides. "Next thing I realized you two…" Not wanting to say they mated. "When I heard you were pregnant I was so mad with jealousy."

If not for hearing the Dragon Slayer practically confess to her twice already the Spirit-Mage wouldn't have thought it possible for him to feel jealousy like this. "Natsu." Placing both her hands over his hand over her stomach.

"When I was growing up Igneel taught me that dragons can only have one mate as long as they live."

That one sentence made her eyes open up with realization. She now understood why he was avoiding her since he eased dropped on Wendy confirming her pregnancy.

"With Igneel's teaching I believed I could never have you in my life with you having another mans child."

"Natsu you may have been taught by a dragon, but that doesn't make you one."

"I know." ' _Thanks to Mira._ '

Somehow Lucy knew Mira had to be the one to tell him that seeing that they were talking before her shift ended. After all if that wasn't what they were talking about then Natsu most likely wouldn't be kneeling in front of her right now. ' _You're always looking out for me Mira._ '

Reaching for one of the envelopes the blonde had placed on the coffee table he picked it up. "This isn't the kind of support you need."

"Did you listen in on Sylvia talking to me?" Not mad at all if he did.

"You need someone to be there for you." Dropping the envelope on the table so he could place the hand over Lucy's so he could cup both of her small hands in his strong ones. "To support you and your baby when it's born." Looking at her growing stomach.

Lucy felt her heartbeats pace skyrocket hearing what could be considered yet another confession. "Natsu." Feeling a wave of tears readying to fall, but not of sadness like she had over the last three month. No these would be tears of happiness. ' _Maybe I won't end up alone._ ' She thought happily as her greatest fear may soon disappear.

"Lucy I'll be the man your child calls dad." Said Natsu starring into her chocolate brown orbs.

Not only did the blonde's heart beat go up again, but her face began to redden as well. Hearing Natsu saying he'd be the father figure in her child's life brought a smile to her face like only the pink haired wizard was capable of doing. That smile slowly faded. "Natsu you don't have to take responsibility." Not wanting him to feel obligated to take care of a child that wasn't his even though nothing would make her happier.

Gently squeezing her hands. "I know I don't have to. I want to."

Butterflies in her stomach began to dance around crazily. ' _Do I love Natsu too?_ ' Right then feeling the same way she did after Ceadra made love to her in that being with Natsu just felt so right. She thought she may never feel this feeling of love again after how Ceadra had betrayed her, but now she really couldn't see a future without Natsu in it. Oh how confused the woman was, especially after Sylvia had told her that Ceadra does care for her despite what she believes, and her hormones were not helping one bit with all this confusion. Feeling tears falling down her cheeks she asked. "Why?" Already knowing the answer, she just wanted to confirm it by him finally telling her those three words.

It was now or never was what the Dragon Slayers body was screaming at him. "Why?" Feeling a strange sense of ease as he gave his signature grin finally ready to say the three words to the Celestial mage for the first time. "Simple Lucy." Staring deeply into her brown orbs with his black orbs as he spoke. "Its because I…"

***Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock ***

The sound of someone knocking on the door seemed to freeze everything in the room. Natsu managed to say the last two words of the three magical words said so often, yet their meaning will never change no matter what so long as they truly come from the heart. Unfortunate the person knocking on the door was louder than the man was able to say 'I love you'.

Lucy saw that Natsu had tried to say the last two more words, but wasn't able to hear them over the sound of someone knocking on her front door. Taking a quick glance at the clock in her living room she saw it was nearly nine O' clock. ' _Who could be knocking on my door at this time of night?'_

By the look on the woman's face He could tell she hadn't heard his confession. Not only that but she was starting to get distracted by the previous noise. Squeezing her hands gently to get the woman's attention he looked at her tenderly like he had seconds ago in attempts to recreate the confession. "Lucy I…"

***Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock ***

Again the person knocking on his loves' door muffled the Dragon Slayers words out. Never before in his life did he want to kill someone over such a simple act. Just like before she was no longer looking at him, but at the door.

Lucy knew Natsu was finally trying to confess to her with the words needing to be heard; yet whoever was behind the door wasn't going to go away until she opened the door. Removing her hands from his strong, warm, and callused hands placing one on her stomach and the other one to push herself off the recliner. "Sorry Natsu I've got to answer the door."

Knowing he wouldn't be able to make his confession until after the person at the door was taken care of. Quickly he put one of his hands on Lucy's shoulder gently directing her to sit back down. "Relax Lucy I'll get the door." He said making his way to answer the door. ' _This better be important or else I'm going to burn whoever's behind the door alive._ ' "Be there in a sec." Grabbing the door handle he turned it as he opened the door. What he saw made him want to burn the person to a crisp then and there. "YOU!" Gritting his teeth seeing the black-haired man who was behind all of his precious Nakama's pain and suffering over the last four and a half months.

The man on the other side of the door composure was the exact opposite of the man who opened it. Instead of a look that could kill was a look of a calm yet worried man trying to look past Natsu at the insides of the apartment. "Is Lucy here?" Zeref Asked.

**End Chapter 14.**

**Next Chapter.**

**Return.**


	14. Return

"Is Lucy here?" Zeref asked again after the pinkette who looked beyond pissed to see him opened the door didn't answer him the first time.

"No she's not home." Natsu answered gritting his teeth as he restrained himself from pouncing the other man not wanting to worry Lucy about why he attacked whoever was at the door.

A look of disappointment spread across the black wizard's face. "Do you know when she'll be back?"

"No idea." Answering harshly as his scowl deepened.

' _She's here_.' He knew simply on how Natsu was acting. He also knew the longer the two spoke the more likely she was to come see who's at the door. "Do you mind if I come in and wait for her to come home? I really need to talk to her."

"No you can't!" Wanting to slam the door in the mans face so bad, but knowing Lucy she'd be to kind hearted to not see who the person was to see if they were injured, or apologize for his behavior. Hearing sounds from the couch he knew she was getting ready to see whoever knocked on the door with how long he stood there _. 'I've got to get him to leave without Lucy seeing him._ '

"Would you leave her a message saying Ceadra Talons is back in town looking for her?"

"No!"

"Why not?" Now starting to bet annoyed by the rude pink haired man's behavior towards him.

"Because Lucy doesn't want to…"

"Natsu who's at the door?" Lucy asked who was now halfway from the couch she was sitting on and the door.

Zeref let out a quick smirk in his victory hearing her voice getting closer.

' _Crap_!' Natsu cursed in his head as he turned in attempt to tell her not to worry. To bad though for him in turning revealed the man at the door.

Lucy was taken back finally seeing who knocked on her door. "Ceadra!" The mere sight of him sent the poor girl into a mental confusion. Part of her angry as hell at him for leaving her. Another part of her happy to see him thinking that what Sylvia had told her earlier was right about him really caring about her. A third part of her unsure of whom she really loved between Ceadra and Natsu. Sure she had given herself to Ceadra, but after hearing a few of Natsu's near confession to her only minutes ago did she begin to wonder if she loved him back the same way. Of course there were many more thoughts and emotions rushing through her head from his sudden appearance. So much so that she dropped to her knees from how emotionally draining the last couple hours of the day had been for her.

Natsu rushed to her side to soften the fall. "Are you all right?" He asked only to get a confused look from her.

"Lucy." Zeref said finally seeing the woman he was looking for. Only needing a quick look down he could see that the woman was pregnant putting on a look of shock. ' _Good I just knew she'd keep it?_ ' Zeref thought as he looked at what was his child growing inside the woman. Slowly he began to approach her.

"Stay back." Natsu warned after the man took one step towards them.

"I came to talk to Lucy." Looking at her with gentle eyes as she stared at him with confused ones slowly he lowered his eyes to her growing stomach. "And it looks like we have quite a bit to talk…"

"You don't get to talk to her." Now standing between the two.

"That's our…"

"Do you have any idea how much pain you've caused her?" Barely keeping his anger down enough so he wouldn't create any flame that would burn down the apartment.

"I…"

"Leave now!" Cocking his right hand back into a fist. ' _I'll make sure you never hurt her again._ '

"Not until I talk to Lucy!" Matching his angry glare with a defiant stare. ' _Just try me Natsu. Even with me holding back you're still not ready._ '

The Slayer was about to charge him until he felt something pull on the back of his one sleeve shirt(year X791 shirt). Looking back he saw it was the Celestial-mage who had stopped him. She raised her hand up so he could help her stand back up which he was careful in doing so.

Doing her best to compose herself she spoke softly. "Natsu, Ceadra is right we need to talk." Nervously rubbing one of her wrists. "Alone."

"But Lucy…" He began, but she put her index finger to his lips silencing the man.

"I'm sorry, but it's a talk I need to have." Looking at him with eyes saying no was not an answer.

With the look the Blonde was giving him there was no way the Pinkette could tell her no. Giving into the woman he made his way towards the door and his dark-haired nemesis. "Hurt her in any way and they'll never find your body." He threatened with a low and dangerous tone that only the other man could hear as he walked past him. Once the threat was given he did as she requested and left the two to talk. Walking aimlessly through the streets one thing kept repeating in the young man's mind. ' _Please don't take him back Lucy_.' Several images of the two happily being together flashed in his mind. Pulling at his pink locks. "Mavis I need a drink!" Now making his way towards the bar inside Fairy Tail.

Inside Lucy's apartment her and Ceadra stood looking at each other in silence. A million questions running inside the woman's mind, while the man was trying to think of where to begin.

"Lucy I…"

**SLAP**

Zeref stumbled backwards as a strong stinging sensation filled the entire left side of his face, which now had a perfect imprint of the woman's hand on it. ' _What's the deal, she shouldn't be able to hurt me like this._ ' Looking at the woman did he see an intense anger burning in those gentle brown eyes, yet at the same time could see tears readying to fall down her delicate face. ' _Then again that's just more proof I found the right girl_.'

"Why?" Lucy asked with both anger and sorrow.

"Why what?"

"Why did you leave me like that?"

Looking away from her slightly with a look of guilt. "I…"

"You told me you loved me." This time only sorrow could be detected in Lucy's voice as the damn broke. She raised her hand up again to slap him again only for it to get stopped as he gently caught hold of it. "You took all of my trust and threw it back in my face." Now trying to free her hand.

"I meant what I said that night. Every word of it." ' _Even the parts about my past_.' Reaching out with his free hand touch her face. "I didn't want to leave you that night." Wiping her tears away.

"Huh?"

"One of my team mates informed me they had caught a lead on the man we've been hunting down all the way from Enca."

Thinking back to the train ride to the Akana Resort Ceadra did tell her he was tracking down a wanted criminal. ' _That's right the reason he was in Fiore was for a mission. So that's why he left me?_ ' Feeling dumb about forgetting the reason he was in the country in the first place, but then again. "Then why didn't you leave me a note."

"I had two reasons for that."

"What were they?"

"The man we were tracking down killed forty of my countrymen before fleeing Enca. The only way we were able to track him here was through a series of murders all the way to Fiore." Thinking back four hundred years of all the brutal murders he'd seen tracking the man down. "At first I wanted revenge for my people, but after the night we shared I thought of what would happen if I didn't leave as soon as possible. What if my delay aloud him get off another kill or two. What if the trail somehow brought me back here to your apartment to find you…" Zeref became silent not wanting to say dead. Instead he let Lucy take in what he had just said.

All the anger that had built up inside Lucy over nearly five months was fading away, quickly turning to regret. "What was the second reason." His first one was more than enough for him to leave, but he said he had two, and she wanted to know the other.

"I hate written language." He said bluntly.

"Why would you hate written language." Asked the inspiring author.

Zeref released Lucy's hand now holding it off to the side. "Depending on how it is written it could be read a different way." Using his magic he wrote some words in the air for the young pregnant woman to read. "Read them out loud please."

"Sorry I had to leave." Lucy reading what the father of her child had written in the air.

"That's as much as I would have been able to write down."

"Then why didn't you at least write that down then?"

"How would you have read it?"

"The same way I just did."

"How would you interpret them?"

Looking at the words more carefully she thought back to that morning. "I would have thought you said it sarcastically like you only saw me as a one night stand."

"When I truly would have meant it to be in its most sincere form."

"Is this why you left no note in any of the envelopes?" The blonde pointed at the four resting on the coffee table.

Zeref nodded his head. "When I left I thought I'd be back in less than a weeks time. Unfortunately that bastard took us up until last week before we put an end to his reign of terror." The mission that showed him just how dark humanity can really be. "I worked so hard to get to you as soon as I could. The longer I was away from you the more I thought of you. After a few weeks I had this strange feeling, like I did this to you." Placing his free hand on Lucy's stomach. "How badly I wanted to rush back to you once that thought creeped into my mind, but all I could do for you was send you money."

' _So he really does care about me._ ' Feeling guilty about cursing the man she thought abandoned her when he really didn't want to. Slowly she dropped down to her knees. Halfway down she felt a pair of strong arms slow down the fall so she wouldn't hurt herself. Slowly tears made there way down her face once again. "I'm so sorry." She whispered as she wrapped her arms around the mans chest placing her forehead into the crook of his neck. "I'm so sorry."

Adjusting his grip so one arm was around her hugging her back, and with the other on the back of her head soothingly petting her soft golden locks. "What are you sorry about?" Feeling her shake in his grip.

"This whole time I thought you used me." Low sob. "I thought you didn't care about me."

"Its okay." Still petting her hair. "I'm here for you now." Looking up for a split second he notice that each envelope still had all the jewels he had sent her had gone unused. ' _Sylvia was right. She did have too much pride to accept support in that manner._ ' "Why didn't you use the jewels I sent you?" Moving the hand on her back to touch her growing stomach. "After all I was sending them to you had this happened to you."

"I was too angry to see things the way I should have." Lowering one of her hand to place it on he one he had over their baby. "I thought you were mocking me with a way to support me." Gulp. "But now I see it was your only way of giving me and our baby support while you were away."

The black wizard stopped stroking the celestial mage's hair so he could use it to cup her chin in it so he could look her in the eye. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you." Staring tenderly into her lighter brown orbs.

"I'm so sorry for thinking so poorly of you all this time." Guiltily looking into his darker brown orbs.

Looking at the younger mages face did Zeref for the first time see just how young Lucy was for the first time. ' _She's so young._ ' Seeing all the pain, guilt, anger, sorrow, happiness and several other emotions all grace her beautiful face since he came back to her. _'I need to remind myself that I'm dealing with someone who to me is a baby herself.'_ Having lived over four hundred years ago at one point were all these emotions familiar to him, until the day he became the infamous black wizard of death. But for this task he had to relearn them to play the act. For some reason though around this young girl he didn't have to act, as a matter of fact he was starting to feel the way he did before he became what he now is. Almost as if his long past was on replay right before him, with a few twist between past and present.

Lucy only looked at the man as he looked at her with concerned eyes over the last several minutes. "Is something…" She stopped talking when out of nowhere the man picked her up bridal style. "What are you doing?" wrapping her arms around his neck worried she might fall and hurt  herself and the baby.

"You've had a long day." The Black-Wizard said softly. "You need some rest." Looking down at her belly. "You both need it." Slowly making his way to the girl's bedroom where he laid her down on the bed.

Feeling emotionally exhausted the entire time she was carried did she feel the call of sleep. But she felt something else needed to be done, and be done soon. "We need to go to Fairy Tail." Slowly sitting up and getting ready to get off her warm comfy bed that was calling out to her.

"What?" Not understanding what she meant by they needed to go to Fairy Tail. Taking a glance at the clock he saw it to be a quarter past nine. "What you need is some sleep." Now looking at her exhausted face. "We can go to your guild in the morning." Trying to get her to lie down again only to fail.

"Like I was telling you I was so mad at the way you left me…"

"I didn't want to…"

"My anger rubbed off on my guild so they marked you as public enemy number one."

' _Like they'd even be able to hurt me._ ' A nervous look spread across the mans face. "We can take care of that in the morning."

"If I know Natsu like I know I do he'll be at the guild in at the just a few minutes." Now with a worried look on her face. "He'll tell them you're back and at my place."

Putting the pieces together. "So they'll come here looking for my head if we don't go soon." Letting the woman go so she could grab her things.

Lucy nodded her head as she started to gather her keys, whip, purse, and her winter jacket.

Opening the door for her as she walked up to it. ' _I guess not all parts are going to unravel the way they did before.'_ Thinking of his past as he stepped through the doorway so she could lock it. The two started to walk to the guild in silence. Feeling just how cold the night was he pulled the blonde in with one arm to keep her warm. He felt her shiver under his arm. "Cold?" Wrapping the other arm around her.

"I'm more nervous than cold." Wrapping her arms around him as the night air felt like it was getting colder with each step bringing them closer to Fairy Tail.

"What are you nervous about?" He chuckled. "After all I'm the one with a dead or a alive poster up in your guild."

"That's why I'm nervous." Once again feeling guilty for all of her blind hatred. "I don't want to see you get hurt because of me." A look of worry made itself present on her beautiful face once again

Zeref felt genuinely touched by what Lucy had just said. ' _How long has it been since anyone has actually cared about me?_ ' "After we explain to them the situation they'll understand." Feeling her shiver again. "Sure you're not cold? We're not to far, so we can go back to your apartment if it's too cold for you."

Lucy shook her head. "I have a bad feeling." ' _Especially about Natsu_.' Thinking back less than twenty minutes when he all but said he loved her during his confession. ' _If not for me he would have gotten into a fight with Ceadra_.' And from what she saw it wasn't going to be like a typical brawl. She could sense a strong killing aura coming from him. Lucy was confused by who she loved. Obviously both men loved her. She loved Ceadra before he left that night, but after hearing his side of the story the love she had for him was returning to what it was. Natsu on the other hand up until an hour ago she only thought of him as her best friend, but now after his near confession she was starting to feel more than just friendship for him.

Less than an hour ago the Celestial mage thought no one loved her, and she'd end up raising her child with Loke as its father. Now she had two men who loved her. This turn of events almost made her cry out of sheer happiness, but if she did that now they'd end up freezing to her cheeks. Sadly as happy as she was she knew she could only have one man, and before to long she'd have to choose and the sooner the better before they get into a real fight.

Zeref kept one eye on the street and the other on Lucy. Over the last couple of moments she was lost in deep thoughts, so much that she didn't hear a thing he had said. "Don't worry about it." He said once again trying to encourage her nothing bad will happen. "Everything will be just fine."

Finally snapped from her thoughts. "I hope so." Said the Blonde unable to shake the unease that wouldn't leave her. After all she knew all to well just how protective her family is over everyone of its member. How they're do anything to see them happy again. In her case they'd think it best to teach Ceadra a lesson in hurting one of their Nakama. With each step bringing the two closer to Fairy Tail the stronger the bad feeling Lucy had only grew. ' _Something bad is going to happen tonight._ '

**End Chapter 14.**

**Next Chapter.**

**Bad Feelings?**


	15. Something Bad?

After a twenty-eight-minute walk from her apartment to Fairy Tail Lucy and Zeref had arrived at the guild with the woman's arms still wrapped around the man to stay warm on this freezing February night. Well actually they would have arrived five minutes sooner had Loke not opened his own gate, and were forced to tell him about why the man had left his master that night before he would teach him a lesson in hurting his mistress.

In all honesty Loke almost didn't open his gate, as he and all the other celestial spirits owned by the Celestial-Mage could feel the happiness radiating from her they hadn't felt in months. The only reason he had come was because the cold wind had touched his key, and by this point it had become habit for him to escort his master wherever it was that she was going regardless of distance. Sure he was fuming on the inside as his chances with her were thrown out the window with how she defended him. In the end whatever made her happy made him happy, even if said happiness was currently killing his insides.

"Are you ready?" Asked Zeref with his left hand on the door handle to the guild door.

"Not really." Lucy admitted. "I'm just so nervous about what will happen when they see you." Now noticing not one ounce of worry on the man's face. "Aren't you scared at all."

Shrugging his shoulders. "If you've seen the things I've seen there's not much left in this world that can scare you." The real reason the ancient wizard wasn't worried was because even if all of Fairy Tail attacked him together he'd be the only one standing after everything was done. Well except for Lucy that is.

"I wish I could be brave like you are right now."

Pulling her in closer with his right arm still wrapped around her shoulder. "Like I told you earlier I'm here for you now, so you have nothing to be afraid of." Giving her a reassuring smile before pulling her in to give her a quick kiss on the forehead.

Taking in a deep breath. "I'm ready." Lucy said giving Ceadra the go ahead to open the door.

Even though the bottom floor of Fairy Tail was transformed into a restaurant it was only to stay that way until nine o' clock. After that it went back to how it was three months ago with only guild members being aloud inside. So now without any customers or pregnant women around whoever was left inside the guild was partying like they always do. On this night however only two women were present with those two being Mira and Wendy. All of the male members of the guild in exception to Gray and Gajeel getting their drink on.

Having been the hostess of Fairy Tail it became second nature for Mira to see who entered the guild whenever the doors opened. "Hi Lucy why are you…" The barmaid began to ask until she noticed a tall black-haired man's arm wrapped around her friend. At first she didn't recognize the man which made her heart drop knowing Natsu the man she wanted Lucy to be with was downing shots left and right since coming back. Then she recognized the man as the one who broke the blonde girls' heart after knocking her up. "What are you doing here?" She yelled as she pointed angrily at the man.

"Huh?" Members of the guild asked turning their heads to the source of the noise. Once turned did they see Mira pointing at a black haired man whose arm was wrapped around their Nakama. The man declared public enemy #1 since hurting their Nakama. Anger towards the man nearly sobering them up completely. As one everyone in the guild stood up getting ready to swarm the man. The bad intentions they had for him could easily be seen.

Sensing the guilds murderous intentions Zeref put himself in front of Lucy to protect her should things go south. Only the woman had her own plans.

"Stop!" Lucy shouted to her guild placing herself between her guild and Ceadra. At her word her guild mates halted their approach.

"Why are you defending him Lucy?" Asked Mira. "He's the one who caused you all the pain starting nearly five months ago." Knowing better than anyone just how rough it has been for her friend.

"He had no choice but to leave that morning."

"A real man wouldn't have left his partner after doing it." Elfman boosted.

"Especially knowing it was their first time." Said Bickslow with his dolls agreeing with him. "Besides even if he did then what took him so long to get back to you?"

"He was in the middle of a mission when we had our date." Lucy continuing to defend Ceadra's innocence.

"What was your mission?" Laxus more so ordering than asking.

"Me and my team were tracking down a wanted killer named Rellek." Zeref spoke for the first time.

"I've never seen or heard of any mission involving anyone named Rellek."

"Probably because the jobs origins come from my home country Enca." Running his fingers through his matted black hair. "I believe your country was about to get info about Rellek soon if not for us recently catching him."

"Have any proof of your 'successful mission'." Doubting his every word coming from his mouth.

"No, but perhaps your Master could look it up for me." Zeref looked at the railing at top of the second floor spotting the short old man with ease. "At least with your power I'd assume you're the guild master."

"I am." Makarov answered staring intensely at the man who hurt one of his children. "And I actually just read about it in recent reports given from the council." Something about the black haired man didn't sit right with the old man. He's being way to calm considering what he was facing. ' _He must be either extremely cocky, or extremely powerful._ ' Part of him started to think he was only being so confident because he knew they wouldn't hurt him with Lucy being so close to him. Possibly as a fight would have started by now if not for her presence. "Lucy I want you to go to the infirmary."

"Why?" Lucy asked.

"You look like you should have rested, and come here in the morning." Easily seeing just how tired the woman was. Combine that with what Mira told him of what Gajeel had done to her earlier, how Natsu returned and started downing fire whiskey like it was water, and now her former lover coming back into her life all in one night had could only equal a vary emotionally draining night for her.

"But…"

"The baby needs you to get some sleep." Speaking with a softer kinder voice.

Upon hearing the words sleep did she feel just how tired she was. Still she felt she needed to be here with her man should they decide to teach him a lesson that she wanted him to have an hour ago. Looking back between the black haired man and the guild master nervously.

"Lucy I guarantee no harm will come to Ceadra while you rest in the infirmary." Breaking eye contact to give his children a look daring them to defy him.

She was about to say something until she felt a set of arms gently being wrapped around her from behind. Looking back did she see they belonged to Ceadra.

"Do as your master says and rest up." Zeref said caringly.

"But…" 

"I'm never leaving you again." He promised. "But in order for that to happen I have to get make them see that I didn't want to leave you that night, and I'll be there for you and the baby from now on."

After hearing his words did she finally give into Makarov's order to rest in the infirmary. Feeling him letting go of her.

"Don't worry Lucy." Zeref said watching her walk away. "Nothing bad is going to happen to me." ' _Your guild on the other hand I won't guarantee should they choose to fight me._ '

Stopping once she grabbed the door handle. "I hope you're right." Turning the handle to open the door before entering the medical room. She tried to press her ear to the door to listen, but someone must have sound proofed the room. "AGGGHHHH!" Yawning as the long day she'd had finally caught up with her. Turning around she went to the bed to rest on for a while until someone let their presence be known.

"What did you bring him to the guild for Lucy." Asked a highly drunken Natsu.

Turning around did the Celestial-Mage see her pink haired friend struggling to stand up straight with a half empty bottle of fire-whiskey in his left hand. "Natsu are you drunk?" Asking the rhetorical question.

"Just a little bit." Obviously lying about his state taking a long swig of hard liquor burning the inside of his throat as it went down.

"How much have you had." Walking up to him to take the bottle away from him.

Looking at the bottle taken away from him. "Three bottles." Showing four fingers. "Want some?" Offering her what remained inside the bottle.

Knowing full well she couldn't drink she took the bottle from the man to make sure he couldn't down anymore. Upon taking it the man lost his balance falling to the floor. Letting out a sigh. As tired as she was it was Natsu who needed sleep off what could only end with a massive hangover in the morning. "Lay down and go to sleep Natsu." Leading him over to the lone bed in the room. Only he didn't budge.

"What did you bring him to the guild Lucy?" Natsu repeated his first question with a hint of anger in his voice.

"So we could clear his name…"

"So you're taking him back." Voice mixed with jealousy, anger, and possessiveness.

The Blonde almost said yes without a seconds thought. That was until she remembered the Dragon Slayer all but saying he loved her during his confession. "I don't know." Unsure which man she'd eventually have to choose between.

Looking up did he see the confusion on her face. A confused look he usually got from her when she is attempting to hide something from him. "So you're going to take him back then." Tone becoming serious. "Even after he…"

"He didn't want to…"

"Left/Leave you/me?" both saying the same time as the other.

"He didn't want to leave me Natsu." Lucy repeated before trying to tell him Ceadra's side of the story, but wasn't given the time to do so.

"Then he shouldn't have." Natsu said as he stood up.

"He was in the middle of tracking down a mass murderer."

"And you believe him."

"I do."

"Lucy you are way to forgiving sometimes." Anger present in his words.

"Natsu…"

"Can't you see he's just using you." Stepping closer to her.

"You're starting to scare me." Backing away from her friend who was acting way too aggressive.

"What you should be scared of is what he plans to do to you and your baby."

"Natsu he wants to take care of me and our baby. He promise he wasn't going to leave me again."

"He will leave you again." Grabbing hold of her right wrist possessively. "I'm the one who will never leave you."

Lucy's face grimaced in pain from the Dragon Slayers grip. "Natsu you're hurting me." Attempting to break the hold.

Her words fell on death ears as his grip tightened "Lucy I'm the one who truly loves you."

"You are beyond drunk Natsu." Still trying to free her hand, and lead him to the bed at the same time. "You need to…"

"He's going to end up leaving you again." Not saying it like a friend would when warning you of something bad. More so saying like a parent would scolding their child about something they should never do.

"No he won't." Tears forming in her eyes. "He promised me he'd never leave me…"

"I'm the one who's always been there for you."

"Then where were you when I needed you these last three months." Anger now beginning to flare up in her voice.

"Lucy…"

"You told me you were avoiding me these last three months." She pointed out unaware tears had begun to fall. "I needed you Natsu. Not as a father figure like you said you'd be, but as a friend who could help brighten up my darkest days. But you kept on avoiding me. Ceadra on the other hand was doing everything he could to get back to me as soon as he could."

"Lucy." Seeing and smelling the tear falling down her face.

"Actions speak louder than words Natsu. You say you love me, but for the first time since meeting you weren't there for me when it was killing Ceadra to be away from me."

"I don't love you?" Somehow during the argument he had gotten the bottle of whiskey back. With it back in hand did he throw it through the now broken window. "How many times have I saved you?"

"Saving someone doesn't mean you love them." Nearly freeing her aching wrist before it became tighter. Looking from her wrist to the man's eyes did she see the beast side of him only enemies who had pushed him to the limits had seen before falling to him. "Natsu you are really starting to scare me now."

"I'm not trying to scare you." The Dragon Slayer nearly roared his words making her shake in fear. "I'm trying to tell you I'm the one who truly loves you. I may not have recognized the feeling in my chest when I first saw you, but its clear to me now that I do love you."

"Please stop scarring me." She begged placing her free hand on her abdomen feeling the baby becoming scared too.

The woman's pleas didn't register in his mind. The thing he always thought he'd hear after confessing his love to her was that she loved him back. Only she wasn't saying the words back. "He'll never love you the same way I do."

Starring into his eyes with pleading crying eyes. "Why can't you just accept the fact that he loves me too?" Feeling her right wrist go numb from the crushing pressure.

"Because you're supposed to be my mate." Talking as though the blonde was his possession.

"Its not up to anyone but me to decide who I want to be with." Trying to make a move for the door to get someone to help her only to get pulled back with her back to his chest. In addition to her wrist still being held he was now squeezing her chest with his forearm between her breasts. Try as she might she knew even if she wasn't pregnant there was no way she could beat him in terms of sheer strength. With no other options she screamed out for help. "Ceadra Help Mmmmmmmmgggggghhhhhhhhh!" The fire mages free hand now covering her mouth, muffling her screams.

"Can't you see he is a goddamn liar." Whispering those hateful words into the blonde's ear. "He doesn't love you like I do." Slowly he removed his hand from the celestial mages mouth, but kept it close should she scream again.

"You don't even know anything about him." Tears falling freely. "How can you say such things about him?"

"Because he's no good for you."

"You know what your yelling isn't good for me or the baby?" Lucy surrendered no longer wishing this argument to escalate any further she just wanted it to end before all this anger hurt either her or the baby.

Still having a tight grip on her wrist and chest did Natsu pull her tighter into his chest unaware his elbow was digging into her stomach. "Lu…"

Feeling pressure build around where his second arm rested on her stomach.  "Are you trying to hurt the baby?" No longer able to guess what he was capable of doing in his drunken state.

"A baby that should be mine!"

"The way you've been acting now you'd make a horrible husband and father." Not believing ten minutes ago that she thought she loved him like he said he loved her. Now all she felt toward him was terror, and concern for both lives she was caring for.

Tightening down on her wrist to the point he heard and felt it break but didn't care. "At least I'd be there for my wife and kids."

"The way you're acting right now they'd be better off without you Natsu." Lucy said hardly able to breathe under his tightening holds. "I'd rather have the father not be around my babies than have an abusive one like you around them at all."

The blondies words finally sinking in on him making the Dragon Slayer realize he was hurting his beloved celestial mage. "Lucy." Letting go of her once he realized what it was that he was doing to her.

**SLAP!** Taking the small opening Lucy turned quickly and slapped Natsu in hopes of snapping him the rest of the way out of his drunken state. If only she knew in advance how wrong she would be. Almost instantly after slapping the dragon slayer did he punch the celestial mage across her left cheek back instantly forming a bruise on her beautiful face. Luckily for her in his state he wasn't able to put his normal amount of power behind it that most likely would have taken her head off, but it was now a wonder to her that she only got knocked down instead of knocked out.

"AAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" The young pregnant woman started to scream out in pain after hitting the hard unforgiving floor.

Hearing her scream out in pain sobered the young man up right away. Snapping out of his drunken state did he she what he had done to the blonde screaming in pain on the ground. "Lucy?" He whispered slowly reaching out to her only to stop after the door to the infirmary swung open.

"Lucy!" Zeref said beyond worried once he saw the blonde on the floor screaming in pain with a large bruise on her cheek. Rushing to her side he tried to sit her up to see what was wrong only for her to scream out again when he tried to move her. Taking in a better look did he notice she wasn't clutching her face in a soothing way to make the pain go away. No she was clutching at something else that made everything else in the world feel like it didn't exist.

Lucy still screaming in pain was clutching at her stomach, broken wrist or not. The pain in her face and wrist though hurt was nothing compared to the pain she was feeling in her belly. Immediately she thought of the baby's health being jeopardized by the way she was knocked down. Tears already cascading from her eyes. "IT HURTS!" Wailed Lucy.

"Lucy." Natsu said quietly as he backed away not believing what he had just done looking at the hand he used to punch the woman he loved.

The infirmary was quickly being filled up by guild members seeing what the commotion was all about to see the young pregnant woman screaming in pain clutching at her growing stomach.

"Wendy get over here now." Makarov started to shout out orders like a general would to his army, with his army following his every command. "Jet bring Porlyusica here as fast as you can." The old man continued to give orders.

Carefully Elfman, Bickslow, and Laxus lifted Lucy up onto the infirmary bed so Wendy could begin to use her healing magic once inside the infirmary.

In the mad shuffle no one noticed Zeref forcing Natsu out of the room where he pinned him to the wall by pressing his forearm into the other man's throat. If looks could kill then the look the black wizard gave the other man would have killed all of Magnolia. "If Lucy loses the baby then I'm going to kill you." His eyes dark brown eyes changed to a deep red as he gave the threat. "And I'll make sure its as slow and painful as possible. Believe me this in no idle threat, that's a guarantee!"

All Natsu could do was nod his head as he looked fearfully into those murderous red eyes.

**End Chapter 15.**

**Next Chapter.**

**Child of Darkness?**


	16. Child of Darkness?

The following twenty minutes inside the guild could only be described as a controlled chaos. Lucy had been placed on the infirmary bed crying her eyes out from all the pain she was feeling around the baby fearing she might lose it, not even caring about her broken right wrist, or bruised cheek. Zeref who held her left hand showing her his support had the same concerns. The blonde held onto the mans hand like a lifeline fearing what would happen if she was going to have a miscarriage.

Wendy unsure of the damage inside Lucy was keeping a generic healing spell going until Jet could get Porlyusica to assess the damage done to mother and child. After giving orders Makarov kept a close eye on everything and everyone. Most other members of the guild restlessly passed outside the infirmary unable to do anything for their Nakama in pain, or the baby. Finally Natsu was sitting in the masters office for his own safety from his guild mates, waiting for Makarov to lay out his punishment.

For those waiting outside they couldn't believe what started out as a normal night for drinking turned into such a disastrous night. All of them wondering if Lucy was going to lose her baby, and by Natsu's hand no less. The concern so deep they didn't even think of Natsu and how he should be punished, but just in case someone did Gildarts was standing on the outside of the masters door, just like how Laxus was leaning against the infirmary's door. It was so silent in the guild that everyone could hear the poor woman's sobs killing them all on the insides unable to do anything.

' _Hope you hold up._ ' Laxus thought hoping all the training he had given younger Dragon Slayer was enough to keep her magic up until Porlyusica arrived. ' _What if she runs out?_ ' For the first time thinking his training methods might have been to much for her small body to handle. Running his left hand through his hair. ' _Who would have thought Lucy's rampage would inspire me to take Wendy on a my disciple would be the deciding factor if her baby lives?_ ' "Maybe I should take things easier on Wendy."

Over standing in front of the masters office Gildarts stood preventing anyone from getting in should anyone try to teach Natsu a lesson before the old mad decides what to do to him. ' _How in the world could Natsu do something like this?_ ' He asked himself thinking of the boy growing up, only ever seeing fury in his eyes when protecting the guild or his Nakama.

**BAM!**

Everyone looked at the entry to see Jet had collapsed opening the door with Porlyusica acting fast enough to not fall on top of the young man. "I got her." Giving a thumbs up gasping for air.

"Where is she?" Asked Porlyusica.

"In here." Laxus said opening the door to the infirmary for the old healer.

"Just tell me I didn't get here too late." She said with no emotions now walking past the muscular blonde man.

"Let's all hope you're not." Closing the door once she was inside.

The next half-hour Porlyusica with Wendy's help did a thorough examination on Lucy and the baby to find out what had happened to see if they could remedy the problem. "Were stable for now." Managing to stabilize the situation enough they could take a break so Porlyusica could explain what had happened, and what was going to need to be done to fix the problem. Almost as important as the diagnosis she saw Wendy was ready to pass out from exhaustion maintaining her healing spell for as long as she did. The Edolian knew if Wendy passed out it would be the end for the baby they were trying to save.

Letting out a sigh. "Thank goodness." Wendy said wiping the sweat off her forehead with a towel.

"We aren't out of the woods yet Wendy." Said Porlyusica washing her hands.

"I just can't believe my magic held up." Taking in heavy breaths after the long extended healing spell she had sustained for nearly an hour. "Stupid Laxus and his harsh training methods." Another deep breath. "I almost didn't recover enough magic after training with him today." Having been dragged out of Fairy Hills for the days training.

Looking at Wendy Porlyusica began. "If it weren't for all the extra training you've been complaining about that Laxus has been giving your friend would have lost the baby." Not meaning to sound harsh. "Go thank him, drink some water, and rest up for a bit. I'm going to have to teach you a new spell you'll be performing before we're done."

Bowing her head Wendy thanked the old healer before doing what she was told to do.

After Wendy left did Porlyusica turn her attention toward Lucy and Ceadra.

"Is it true I almost lost the baby?" Lucy asked with a highly shaken voice.

Nodding her head. "However we're not out of the woods yet." Starting to treat the blonde's wrist by wrapping a cast around it to heal.

"What do you mean." Zeref asked.

"While its true Wendy's increased magic saved the baby its your magic that initially saved it." Pointing at Lucy only to get a puzzled look. "While pregnant if a mages baby is put in any danger the mothers magic immediately puts a magic barrier around the womb to protect the baby. However it didn't activate fast enough so Wendy had to heal the baby while your barrier kept any more harm from happening. This wound the baby took like I said normally would have killed it, but with both barrier and healing magic he managed to survive." Porlyusica said finished wrapping up the wrist.

"He?" Ceadra and Lucy asked.

"Your son." The aged healer said bluntly.

"What was the injury?" Zeref asked.

"When Natsu knocked you to the ground your son suffered severe whiplash. Normally a person's neck would only be sore for an extended period of time due to such an injury. However not even being born yet the boys neck wasn't strong enough and was nearly severed."

Lucy placed both hands over the baby in a hugging manor. "I'm so sorry baby." She apologized for putting him in such danger.

Placing his hand over Lucy's. "You were only doing what you thought would keep him safe." Zeref said softly.

"Luckily your barrier and Wendy's healing magic in combination kept him alive long enough for me to realign his neck." Said the Pinkette.

"Realign as in it wasn't healed completely?" Concerned for his son.

Nodding her head. "This is one of those injuries were magic is not enough to get the job done. However I know of a spell Wendy will soon be casting that will act as a permanent neck brace." A moment of silence. "This spell does have a small chance of healing your son's neck back to 100%, however most likely he'll have to live with the neck injury the rest of his life."

"So my baby will have to live with neck pains his whole life." Lucy began to imagine the pain he'd go through unable to do anything about the pain.

' _Natsu you are dead._ ' Zeref thought.

"Like I said this spell will act as an internal brace that will also prevent pain."

"Thank you god." Lucy said

"This spell sounds like it requires a lot of magic." Zeref said. "There's no way this is a one off spell."

"You are correct." Porlyusica said. "The spell essentially runs on a battery that keeps one safe from the brittle bone from giving out, and stops the pain so long as it the battery doesn't run out of magic."

"So the battery is rechargeable right?"

Nodding her head. "Luckily both of you being mages you will both be able to recharge it. However now we run into another problem."

"Which is?" Both parents asked.

"When your magic created the barrier around the womb to protect the baby that barrier will not go away until the baby is born." Pointing at Lucy.

"So no magic the rest of my pregnancy." Lucy said. She was sad she wouldn't be able to see her spirits for nearly five month, but considering what that magic was being used for she'd gladly take this trade off even if she never got to use magic again the rest of her life.

"And you." Now pointing and Ceadra. "Are the only one capable or recharging the seal so long as the barrier is up."

' _What?_ ' "Huh?" Zeref said caught off guard. "Why is that."

"Because you young man are the father, and being the father of the baby and magic around it will know and trust your magic to allow you to recharge the seal."

"So Ceadra and I will be the only ones able to keep the seal charged?"

"If you two wish you can teach others how to do it, but I recommend teaching as few people as possible because there is a possibility of overcharging it. This is a special seal in which the one having the spell cast on them must trust the people charging it. That is until he is able to charge it himself once he develops magic."

"How do I charge a seal I can't even see?"

"Simply place your hand over the baby, imagine the seal on the back of his neck, and channel your magic towards that seal."

"How often will it need to be charged?" Lucy asked.

"It will take time for the seal to grow so the charge can last longer. For now I'd say four times a day." Porlyusica answered. "In time it will only need to be charged once a week. Just be careful not to overcharge it or you might blow his head off."

' _So I cant afford to leave Lucy on her own again until she gives birth_.' Zeref thought to himself. ' _Then again it'll just be a small hiccup in the plan_.'

"Guess you really can't leave us again." Lucy said. She wanted Ceadra in her and their son's life she just didn't want to make it feel like he was being forced to be with her.

"Like I told you I'm never leaving you again." He smiled warmly.

"One more thing before I leave you two." Porlyusica said.

"What is it?" Both parents asked.

"I'm ordering you on bed-rest for the remainder of your pregnancy. We can't go testing the seals capabilities out to soon."

"But what about all my bills." Wondering how she'd manage to pay said bills if she was stuck in bed the next four and a half months.

Zeref gently took hold of Lucy's hands in his. "Don't worry about that."

"But!"

"Lucy you've been working hard to take care of both you and the baby till now. Now it's my turn to take care of you two."

If she had anymore fluids left to shed Lucy would have cried happy tears hearing those words. "Thank you Ceadra."

"I'll bring Wendy back in here in a while to teach her the spell she'll be casting." The old healer said before exiting the room.

* * *

**Porlyusica**

Stepping out of the infirmary Porlyusica saw that all eyes were on her. Normally she would have yelled at them ordering them all to leave her alone. This time however she wanted all of their attention for what she was about to say.

"Are Lucy and the baby going to be alright?" Asked a worried Mirajane.

Letting out a sigh. "Lucy and the baby are safe…"

"Oh thank goodness." The guild collectively let out a sigh of relief.

"However."

"However?"

"Lucy is going to have to remain on bed-rest for the rest of her pregnancy because of what happened." Porlyusica then told the guild what she told Ceadra and Lucy about the babies' neck and the seal that will soon be placed on him. "Also when I looked over the baby I couldn't help but notice something."

"What did you notice." Asked Laxus.

"That the baby is underdeveloped for how far along the pregnancy is which can only mean that that poor girl has been dealing with more stress than she should be." Scolding all of Fairy Tail.

"Doesn't help that the father has been MIA until tonight." Laxus said.

"Or Gajeel tormenting her." Mira said. "Which I have been doing my best to get him to stop."

"Or how about taking on all the stress it took turn this guild into a restaurant where the manager, and master didn't know the first thing about running a business." Porlyusica glared at Mira.

"What?"

"While what the two of you said definitely added to her stress the biggest one had to be trying to get this place running properly."

"She told me she didn't mind."

"Of course she'd say that. she's a stubborn girl who won't fully admit her problems. If anything she knew she needed this place to run right to pay her bills, and make sure she could take care of her baby."

"How do you even know about any of that?"

"Makarov told me about it when I gave him a check-up a month ago. After thoroughly checking out the mother and child its clear to me that all these things were too much for her to handle, and because of that the baby is behind where it should be."

Fairy Tail became dead silent listening to the pink-haired woman. They knew Lucy was going through a rough time, but didn't know it was affecting her little one.

"Even if that pink-haired idiot hadn't punched her the accumulative stress would have resulted in a premature birth, and/or future problems for the child growing up." Taking a few seconds to catch her breath. "Just like I ordered the blonde on bed-rest I'm ordering you all to take it easy on her from now on. The child is already going to be having problems when he's born, but if you keep adding to her stress you'll only make things more dire for the both of them." The old healer finished walking towards the master's office

There wasn't one member of the guild who didn't feel guilty after hearing what Porlyusica just said. None however took those words more harshly than Mira. She thought she was helping her friend out giving her a job. She knew turning Fairy Tail into a restaurant wasn't going to be easy after all she struggled through all the paper work to get the place licensed, running, and up to all health codes. To be honest she almost gave up until Lucy had come in and offered to do the business part for her when she started her shift, and then starting waiting on tables for the rest of her shift. Shifting all that stressful work off to Lucy never felt right to her, but the younger girl was more qualified than her thanks to the way she was raised and schooled. If she had known the stress of keeping the restaurant open was going to effect the baby the way Porlyusica said it was she would have never let her do any of it. "I'm so sorry Lucy." she apologized going unnoticed when she left to go home thinking about what the old healer just said.

* * *

**Natsu**.

(Inside Makarov's office.)

Natsu sat down in the chair facing an enraged Makarov. Sure he'd been in this hot seat numerous times due to his carefree destructive style. All those previous times in this chair pail in comparison to the scolding he was going to receive once the old man could form the words. In all honesty as terrible as he felt he also knew whatever the old man was going to do to him wouldn't be enough for what he did.

Oh the anger Makarov felt toward Natsu was something he had only felt a hand full of times in his long life. He could tolerate all the complaints he'd received from the magic council, and clients complaining of collateral damages. This however was completely unprecedented. Never before had any of his children come close to killing someone before. Though Natsu deserved punishment he decided to wait to hear from Porlyusica on the condition of Lucy and the baby before dealing it out.

 **KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK**!

"Stay right where you are." The old man ordered as he stepped out of his office so Porlyusica could tell him what the damage was.

Pressing his palms to his forehead did the fire mage continue to replay what he had done. Hell he couldn't believe he hit a woman let alone a pregnant one, and then that woman happened to be the one he loved. The longer he waited for the Makarov to come back into his office the more he dreaded the idea of the worst case scenario. "Did I really kill Lucy's baby." Words so light he could barley hear them. Thinking back to when Ceadra threatened to kill him if Lucy lost the baby. "Wait." Thinking of the mans wordings. Though he was beyond drunk when he hurt Lucy he sobered up immediacy after hearing her screams. ' _If Lucy loses the baby then I'm going to kill you._ ' "Was he even worried about Lucy?" Before anymore thought could be put into the idea the old man came back into his office quickly taking his seat back with a stern and solemn look on his wrinkled face.

"Natsu!" Makarov finally began to speak. "I don't even know where to begin this time." Rubbing his temples with his left hand. "You've always been reckless destroying building and such. That I could tolerate. Never though have I gotten a complaint in my entire time being master of Fairy Tail of one of my children nearly causing the death of anyone."

"So…"

"Lucy did not loss the baby." He saw a look of relief coming over Natsu face, but gave him a look that quickly sapped him of said relief. "Porlyusica informed me that had Lucy not been a mage she would have lost it."

That last sentence made Natsu feel hollow, only capable of feeling the guilt. Then again guilt might not be a strong enough, or even the right word for what he was really feeling.

"Because of you the baby is going to be having neck problems for the rest of its life." Knowing how much guilt the young man was experiencing he decided not to bring up the stress part, as that was more so his own sin than the Dragon Slayers.

"I didn't mean to." Speaking quietly.

"Alcohol is a dangerous thing to be dealing with when drunk the way you did. Some can down it like water and not have a problem with it. It turns the quiet ones into the biggest talkers in the room. It can turn the meanest bastard into a teddy bear. It can even force our most inner secrets to come pouring out of us when we mean to keep them buried deep down."

"In my case let my possessiveness come out unaware of the harm I was doing." Hearing the sounds of Lucy's wrist breaking under his grip.

"And unleash your fighting reflexes out punching someone you care for."

Lowering his head to hid his eyes. "Yeah." Natsu admitting to his wrongs.

"Why did you get drunk in the first place?"

"I thought Lucy was going to take him back…" Natsu was about to say he didn't get to finish his confession before the old man began to talk again.

"Natsu I don't care what issues you have with Ceadra are, but never again take those frustrations out like you just did." Makarov sternly warned him. "No matter what issues you have with its parents all children are born innocent."

All the pinkette could do was nod his head as he continued to listen to the old mans words.

"Fortunately Porlyusica informed me that she's going to have Wendy perform a cast-like spell to protect the baby's neck, and prevent the pain." He then began to give the details his old friend had given to Lucy and Ceadra. "This means he'll have to be by her side constantly. With how this came to be I'm afraid I'm going to have to cast a restraining spell on you to prevent another conflict such as this happening again."

"So I won't be able to get close to Lucy."

"I'm also going to have to suspend you from any guild activities until further notice."

"What? You're kicking me out of the guild?"

"Temporarily. Until I feel you can be trusted again." Quickly he raised his hand to keep the fire mage silent. "If either Lucy or Ceadra choose to press charges you will end up going to jail for a long time. I'll do my best to prevent that, but you have to leave them alone. The best way for me to do this is to suspend you. I suggest you use this time to do some soul searching, and move on."

Natsu couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sure the punishment might not be enough considering what he had done but... "What do you mean move on?"

To Makarov this was the part he was least looking forward to. He knew Natsu would accept any punishment handed to him, but this was going to be the worst thing he could do to the Dragon Slayer. "The way Lucy defended Ceadra when he entered the guild, and the way he apologized to us explaining why he left." Taking a breath. "Its clear to me that they deeply care for each other."

"I care for Lucy too."

"What you did most women would never be able to forgive you for such an act. Lucy on the other hand always seems to find a way to forgive anyone."

Natsu felt like crying having yelled a Lucy for being to forgiving when he was drunk. Right now though he didn't have the right to shed those tears.

"I don't know if she will be so forgiving this time." Makarov continued to talk, but most of the words wouldn't register in the younger mans head. "By then I'm more than certain they will have fallen back in love with each other. If they haven't already."

"So you're telling me to just give up my love for Lucy?" Standing up and nearly flipping the desk separating the two in the process.

Makarov knew he needed to be tough on Natsu, but that didn't mean this was going to be easy for the old man to say what needed to be said. "Yes!" He answered even though it pained his heart to say that one word.

Natsu slammed his fist on the desk. "This is your fault!" He hissed at the old man who merle looked back at him. "If it weren't for your damn auction Lucy never would have meet Ceadra, and she'd be mine." Thinking back to his confession earlier that night. "I never even got to tell her I loved her."

"Believe me Natsu I thought you would win Lucy's bid, and then latter her heart." Makarov sounding a little guilty as the boy spoke the truth. "However what is done is done, and cannot be changed." Taking a deep breath. "If Lucy does fall back in love with Ceadra then although it will hurt you must be happy that she found…"

"Lucy was supposed to be mine! I'm the one Lucy was supposed to fall in love with!" He roared. "Now because of your fucking auction she fell in love with someone else. Right when I found the courage to finally confess I get interrupted. And now you want to make sure I can't go near her again. Any other way you want to ruin my life old man?"

The old man now looked at his child with no emotions. "Your actions only confirms my reasoning for casting this restraining spell." Quickly he cast the spell on Natsu who soon felt an intense pain coming from the spell circle over his chest burning into him. "I suggest you head home now before it gets worse."

"Damn you." Clutching at his chest as he jumped out the office window the further he got away from Fairy Tail less the pain became. Physical pain was soon replaced by emotional pain, as by not feeling the restraining spell burn his chest that only meant he was nowhere near Lucy. Taking a couple of steps towards the guild he felt the spell lightly burn him. "So this is my punishment!" Dropping to his knees realizing Lucy was getting further away from him by the second while getting closer to him, and there wasn't a single thing he could do about it now. "AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Roaring while his heart was in pain.

Once alone in his office did he fall back into his chair thinking of the nightmare that started less than an hour ago. "What have I done?" Thinking back five months ago to how the guild was before the auction. Thinking of how his children were slowly coupling up, or starting to warm up to someone of the opposite sex(images of all the cannon couples running in his mind such as NaLu, GrUvia, JeRza, GaLe, etc.). How all the unexpected couples were now starting to form. New children and grandchildren joining and soon to join the guild. As much as the future was starting to get set in stone he couldn't help but think how things would have turned out had he not gone through with the auction. "How many of my children's fate did I change in that one night?"

* * *

**ZerCy**

Zeref continued to hold Lucy's hand minutes after Porlyusica had left the two alone leaving them alone to recover for a bit. On the inside he was furious he had aloud any harm to come to either the baby or Lucy. He was relieved when it was revealed that the injury wouldn't ruin his master plan. Sure he was annoyed that he couldn't afford to leave her side again until the baby was born, but in the scheme of it all this didn't even register as a minor set back.

"AAAGGGHHH!" Lucy let out a big yawn feeling immensely tired after the long day she had.

He could tell it wouldn't be much longer till she faded into the world of dreams. After all the stress he knew she went through he thought it would be best if she had something positive in her mind before falling asleep. "So have you thought of any names yet?" Zeref asked thinking that giving the baby a name would allow her to dream peacefully with no nightmares of what could have happened.

"I've been thinking of a few, but now that I know it's a boy I can't use most of them."

"Hoping for a girl." Grinning on the inside as the spell he had cast to make sure Lucy would become pregnant also made sure that the baby would be a boy.

"I was." Hopping for a little girl who would look like her so she wouldn't be reminded of the father whenever she looked at her. But as Lisanna would joke that if that she got her wish for a girl she would inherit her fathers black hair instead of blonde. "But now I'll just be thankful if he's born healthy after what happened tonight." Starting to rub her belly gently with her injured hand

"So what are some of the name you've been thinking for our son?" Even though he intended the child to be a boy he didn't think of any names for him.

' _Our Son_.' Letting his words repeat in her head loving the sound of those two words after thinking the last three months it was going to be 'my son'. "I don't know why, but I really like the name Kuro." Still rubbing her belly.

"Kuro huh?" Placing his free hand over the Celestial mages baby bump. ' _That's actually a pretty fitting name considering who I am, and what he'll become._ ' "Kuro, I like it." Smiling at Lucy. "Kuro Talons."

"Kuro Talons." Lucy smiled as they agreed on their son's name. A new wave of happiness flooded her mind thinking of a bright future as the call of sleep became too much for her to fight any longer. One final thought hit her before falling asleep. ' _Lucy Talons._ ' Imagining herself in a white wedding dress with Ceadra standing opposite of her in a black tux.

**End Chapter 16.**

**Next Chapter.**

**Black Wizards Plan?**


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